Enchanted
by Vanillaberries
Summary: The Situation I'm stuck in: stupid fluttering butterflies, idiotic sentences and tripping over my own feet. I transfer to Hogwarts and this is what happens to me. Maybe, it's the universe telling me I'm an idiot to fall for my cousin's boyfriend.
1. A Whole New World

Enchanted

This is a new NextGen story that I've started. Hope you like it!

Disclaimer: The wonderful Harry Potter is written by none other than J.K. Rowling!

"Lena, come on, hurry up!" I felt my hand being pulled along by my cousin as I tripped over my own feet in this crowded train station. I grunted, very ladylike, in response.

I couldn't see where my dear cousin was leading us too but eventually she started running towards a wall, with me towing behind. Was she crazy? She was going to crash full speed, and just as I was about to scream, we hit the wall.

Except we didn't really hit it. We went through it.

Oh how I love England.

I could hear her squealing now as she bounded towards a group of girls and hugged them tightly, whilst I stood awkwardly in the background. They were a group of really pretty girls, I noticed. There was a redhead, who was quite tall and had bright, blue eyes, and a petite brunette, who looked really shy, but nice too. Behind them, was quite a dark-skinned girl with curly hair, and _another _redhead, who was simply gorgeous.

"Lena! Come here" My cousin's voice snapped me out of my gaze as I made my way across to the girls, who had now fixated their gazes on me. I tugged at my messy, blonde curls, now wishing I had brushed them properly in the morning. Giving them all a small smile, I glanced towards Emily Winters, my cousin, who was currently grinning like a madman at me.

"Guys, this is my cousin, Lena. I told you all about her remember? Coming from Beauxbatons?" All of her friends, suddenly started smiling in recognisition and the gorgeous redhead, who I had nicknamed GG (Gorgeous Ginger) stepped forward and gave me a tight hug. My eyes opened in surprise as they all laughed loudly at my expression.

"Hi, my name's Lily!" she grinned at me, a smile lighting up her features. She went on to tell me everyone's names, "That's Rose, my cousin", indicating the other redhead (_no wonder_), "Lauren", who was the shy brunette, "and that's my other cousin, Roxy", which left the last girl with curly hair.

"Lena," I blushed slightly; I didn't expect such a warm welcome from all of Emily's friends.

She continued on to say, "Wow, I've never met a French person before! Well except for my aunt Fleur. Can you speak fluent French? That is so cool, you have no idea how much the guys in our school are going to be over you! Plus, you're gorgeous." At this she giggled slightly, and the others rolled their eyes, "Well me, Rosie and Roxy have to go say goodbye to our parents, but I'll see you on the train Lena!"

And at this, she took the other two girls' hands and walked off, her long red hair flowing behind her.

"Wow" I managed to get out, weakly, "She's certainly something."

Both Emily and Lauren laughed, as the latter finally spoke up and said softly, "You'll get used to Lily. She's a great friend to have around. Really loyal, she is. We're all quite different. There's Rose, who's a genius, Roxy, who's practically a tomboy, Lily who's really confident and popular, and me…well, I'm quite shy I guess." She gave a nervous chuckle, and I smiled warmly at her. And I'm supposed to be the new, nervous girl here.

Emily finally decided to cut in, "Okay, you can talk to everyone properly on the train. We need to get your bags, and then find a compartment. We'll see you on the train, Lauren!"

Cue: more dragging, this time onto a train, and with my bags. Aim: Kill my cousin.

As soon as we boarded the train, there was a sudden increase in noise, as people were screaming over each other, girls were giggling and hugging, and bags were being scraped across the floor. We put our bags on, and looked to find a compartment. 645

Everything was so much more different in England than back home in France. In Beauxbatons, everything was perfect and beautiful, whereas Hogwarts seemed to have that cosy, friendly feeling to it. It was almost surreal.

The opening of compartment doors (and _more_ dragging) forced me into a room with more strangers, coincidently most of them being red-heads. And very attractive. I sighed. This was going to be a long journey.

"Guys, I want to introduce you to my cousin, Lena. Lena, you've already met the girls. There's Hugo, Fred, Albus, Scorpius and Dominique." All these people grinned as they looked squished in their seats.

The boy named Fred suddenly stood up and winked at me, taking my hand, and saying in a horrible French accent, "Bonjour, madame. Je m'appelle Fred Weasley." I giggled at his pronunciation, making him think I liked it, and he grinned even further.

"Fred, stop hitting on my cousin," Emily called out, with a bored face, "And she does speak English you know." Fred looked affronted as he took his seat, but not before giving me another wink.

I laughed and sat down next to Rose, who was currently giving glares at the blonde-haired guy, Scorpius.

I looked at the boy in front of me, who had black, unkempt hair and shining, green eyes. He gave me a warm smile, "Albus. Albus Potter. You can call me Al though." My mouth gaped open at this, before I finally shut it, flushed as I heard him laughing.

"Heard a lot about you. I must say, it's certainly exciting to have a new girl, especially a French one, around." I grinned and was about to say something, but before I could, Rose erupted beside me.

"Malfoy, stop grinning like that! Do you have any idea how much you hurt Amy Clarke this summer? The poor girl was crying her eyes at the party last week while you were off with some slutty girl! Why do you have to be such a selfish manwhore?"

Scorpius stood up, his grey eyes flashing, as he said in a low voice, "It's none of your business, Weasley, but even if it was, you should know that Clarke was a pain in the ass. She stuck to me and I just needed to get rid of her. So I did."

I looked around to see if anyone else in the compartment was staring at them, with wide eyes, like I was, but everyone just looked amused, and Lily rolled her eyes.

Albus gave me a smile, a keep-watching-and-see-what-happens smile, so I turned to see the flaming redhead who was inches away from Blondie Boy.

What, I like nicknaming people alright? Plus, Blondie Boy is much better than Scorpius.

A resounding slap echoed through the compartment as Rose stormed out, and Scorpius was left looking furious. He glared at Albus, who was now in peals of laughter, and growled out, "Al, you may be my best mate, but you should really control that cousin of yours."

Everyone was laughing by now, and I couldn't help but join in. I couldn't think of one reason why I initially thought this journey was going to be so bad.

Roxy turned on me now, "So Lena, what house do you think you're going to be in?"

Umm…house? What does she mean by house? I'VE GOT A HOUSE, PEOPLE.

Judging by my confused look, she continued, "You know, Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, Slytherin, Hufflepuff?"

I gave her a small embarrassed shake of the head as Emily took over, "It's nothing to worry about. McGonagall's just going to put the old school hat on you and it'll tell you where you're meant to be. Which is obviously Hufflepuff." At this she grinned at me.

Lily and Albus snorted at the same time and gave her yeh-right looks. Those two seem to be freakishly alike apart from the whole red-black hair thing.

"Lena, hear it from me. Gryffindor is the house for the brave." Albus stated dramatically, raising his hand suddenly, almost knocking Scorpius in the process.

Dominique suddenly muttered, "Or for the stupid."

"Hey! Atleast I'm not a nerdy claw!" came Albus' smart reply.

"Ravenclaws are not nerdy. They're smart. There's a difference _Albus_. I wouldn't expect you to know it." came her reply, as she grinned cheekily.

Merlin, I had only been here 20 minutes and had already experienced fights and arguments. I finally decided to speak up. "Um, well I don't really mind what house I'm in. As long I'm surrounded by people I know."

Scorpius finally turned to me and smiled warmly. "Hey, I get what you're saying. When I started, all these lot we jabbering away about what house they were going to be in, and I was worried about disappointing my parents by not getting into Slytherin. Turns out I made the best friends in Gryffindor."

Everyone stopped bickering, and turned to him with genuine grins, before Lily had to ruin the moment, "Aww Scorp, who knew you had a girly side? Well, except for Rose really." And at this, everyone started laughing again, whilst Scorpius rolled his eyes and hit Albus on the arm for laughing at him. I noticed that everyone had changed into their dark Hogwarts robes, so I quickly excused myself and exited the compartment.

I walked down a long corridor of the train before realizing I didn't even ask one of them where the toilets were. Looking around, I sighed, surrounded again by the chatter of students. Suddenly, the train jolted and I fell forwards. Just as I thought I was about to hit the floor face-on and my eyes fluttered shut, a strong pair of arms caught me deftly around my waist from behind. I opened my eyes, not actually believing that I hadn't hit the floor.

"Are you alright?" a deep, velvety voice spoke from behind, as I turned round to face the stranger.

He looked like Al strangely; had the same dark, unruly hair, but this boy's looked more windswept, and had an almost sexy look to it. He had deep, hazel eyes which were gazing concernedly into mine, and then I realized he was waiting for an answer. I blushed (turned so red, I probably looked like a tomato) and looked down, before muttering I was alright.

First hour on the train, and already turning red in the presence of a hot guy. Well can you blame me? He was gorgeous.

Said boy, now chuckled, and removed his hands from my waist, whilst lifting my chin up: I then realized how close I was to him.

Cue: Sigh heavily and drift off into dream world.

"I haven't seen you around school. Are you new?" he inquired, with a curious look on his face. "Umm.." Think of something to say you idiot! "Yes, my name's Lena. Lena Rosseau." "Rosseau? You English?" This caught me out. "Well, my mother's French but my dad's English. I've come from Beauxbatons." He gave me a smirk, internally making me swoon, and continued, "Well…Lena Rosseau, it's a pleasure to meet you. I'm James Potter."

My eyes slightly widened at this whilst my brain was screaming: I KNEW IT! I TOLD YOU SO. SEE, HE'S RELATED TO ALBUS AND LILY! Alright, you win that one, my stupid smart inner self.

I closed my gaping mouth – which probably resembled a fish – and thought of something relatively intelligent to say. "You look a lot like your brother."

Kill me now.

At that moment, just as I was about to run for my life away from this James Potter, Emily came bounding towards us, a huge grin on our face.

"Oh Lena, I see you met James!"

With this James turned around, tore his eyes away from me, as he took a step back (noooo!) and gave her a casual grin. Remind me to thank my cousin from saving me from a very awkward conversation.

She wrapped her arms around him tightly and gave a little squeal-

Wow they were pretty close huh?

-before she leaned back slightly, and promptly kissed him on the lips.

…I so did not see _that _coming.

I hope you liked that first chapter! I've always wanted to try a NextGen fic but have been kind of scared because most of the ones I've read are simply amazing.

Please review! -Vanillaberries


	2. Then I'm up with the Birds

And here's the second chapter…

* * *

><p>So the train ride was then slightly awkward. Well awkward for me.<p>

It just has to be me that finds themselves blushing and stammering in the presence of their _cousin's _boyfriend.

After (finally) disentangling herself from James' arms, she introduced us properly, while I tried my best not to look up at him, in fear of turning red (yet again).

Luckily, they decided to let me go change into my robes, and I met them all once more back at the compartment. We were close to reaching Hogwarts, and butterflies were threatening to overtake my stomach as I nervously glanced out of the window.

What if I ended up in a house where there was no one I knew?

"Hey, Lena, you alright?" the younger Potter asked me, giving my hand a small squeeze. I smiled up at him and nodded, still thinking about my sorting. I saw James out of the corner of my eye, looking at us, but when I turned my head to him, he glanced away.

The rest of the train ride flew by pretty quickly and soon, I find myself entering a massive hall, with a brilliant ceiling and rows of tables with people chattering on the sides. All the professors were seated on a higher table at the front, and I saw the headmistress slowly clink her glass, announcing for the sorting to begin.

An old, battered hat was placed on a stool as the first years were called up first. They looked both nervous and excited at the same time; some were smug, whilst some received huge rounds of applause from their house (noticeably another redhead who got into Gryffindor).

"Rosseau, Lena" I heard my name being called out, which jolted me out of my thoughts and I made my way up as the headmistress introduced me to everyone. I placed the hat on my head wearily, hoping it would give me the answer I was hoping for.

"Hmm, we've never sorted a French girl before. You seem to be quite well-rounded. Very smart, actually. Perhaps you would do well in Ravenclaw." I thought of the majority of Weasleys and Potters, and my cousin, and grimaced.

"Ah, not Ravenclaw, eh? I suppose Hufflepuff might suit you, it's for the kind and helpful." At this I snorted, my lips giving way to a small smile.

"No Hufflepuff too! Well that only leaves Slytherin or Gryffindor. I suppose it would have to be…GRYFFINDOR!"

I could barely contain myself from the excitement I was feeling as I took it off quickly and stumbled down the steps to the table, which was applauding me quite loudly. I grinned at all the known faces and took a seat between Rose and Lily. Emily was giving me a thumbs up whilst James sat beside her and gave me small wink.

I flushed and looked down at my plate, not listening the speech that was now being given. Finally, a huge row of food appeared before us and everyone started digging in, some more than others.

"Ugh Fred, that's disgusting! You eat like a wild animal!" Lily exclaimed, scrunching up her nose at her cousin, whose face was stuffed in a big piece of pie; I stifled a laugh as I looked at him.

"So Jamie," Al started off, at which James protested through a mouthful of food, "When's quidditch practice starting?"

The 'Wotters' (as they called themselves) all groaned simultaneously.

"Really Al, do you have to bring up quidditch practice first day back? You know how crazy Jamie is!" Fred pouted. The Wotters nodded their heads in agreement.

"I give James a week," Rose said.

"No way. 5 days. Tops."

"Uh uh. Bet you it's going to be 3 days."

"You're all wrong," Lily said defiantly, "I know my brother best, it'll be two days."

James looked between his cousins and siblings, chuckling, and finally put down his food.

"You're all wrong. Mcgonagall finally gave me permission to hold tryouts this week, and we need a new chaser. So I want to see you all up tomorrow morning, we have a lot of work to do."

I looked at him incredulously as everyone groaned again and returned to their food, muttering some very 'colourful' language towards their cousin.

He grinned and turned to me. "Hey Lena, you interested in Quidditch?"

Emily spoke for me before I could answer, "Interested in quidditch? Pfft, Lena loves it! She was part of a Quidditch team back at Beauxbatons."

Now everyone stopped eating (WHY?) and looked at me, some with their eyebrows raised (*cough* Roxy *cough*).

"Wow Frenchie, you're full of surprises aren't you?" I rolled my eyes at Fred, and turned back to James, who was looking at me curiously.

"Yes, I do play Quidditch. Though I'm not sure if I'm good enough for your team."

"Well then why don't you try out? Tommorow, be on the pitch at seven. Rose and Lily will show the way." He sent me another wink and returned to his food.

* * *

><p>The next morning, I was awake early, and decided to go for a walk before heading to the pitch. I guess I was a pretty early riser. Lily and Rose were still asleep but I left them a note saying I'd find my way and meet them at the tryouts. I realized that I had forgotten my broom at home, so I would probably have to borrow off someone.<p>

Hogwarts seemed so surreal, I thought to myself, as I exited the big doors. There were changing staircases, and portraits that had a password for each house, and houses that seemed to have a rivalry with each other. It was all so different from Beauxbatons, where we prided ourselves in being together and everything seemed so sparkly and perfect.

I decided to head down to the Quidditch pitch to get a warm up before trying out. But, as I discovered, I wasn't the only one who wanted to do so.

"Hey Lena, didn't expect to see you here so early." James grinned at me, in his tight shirt which defined those muscles so well. I really needed to stop thinking of him like that; he was my cousin's boyfriend after all.

"I guess I just wanted to warm up before trying out. By any chance, is there a spare broom lying around that I could use? I left mine at home, didn't think I'd need it."

"Oh yeh sure. We have the school brooms, I'll just go get them for you."

He soon came out with a broom, not as good as mine, but decent enough. He turned to me with a shrug, "They're not that fast, but they should do the job. You want to take a small fly around?"

I nodded my head eagerly as we mounted our brooms and took off. I forgot that I was with James Potter, a guy that I found gorgeous; I forgot that I was in Hogwarts, and not in Beauxbatons; I forgot everything around me, and just focused on this amazing feeling, that seemed like I had experienced ages ago.

The wind blew against my face, flicking my hair backwards, as I relished in it and sighed contentedly.

"It's amazing isn't it?" I turned round to face James, who was looking at me, with a huge grin on his face.

"I can't imagine why anyone wouldn't like flying," I admitted shyly. His laughed boomed through the pitch, but his gaze grew slightly serious.

"You know, my mum used to be a professional quidditch player. She used to be the best player for the Holyhead Harpies." I nodded, knowing this all. Ginny Potter was an idol growing up. "Ofcourse, she gave up her career once she found out she was having me. I always asked her whether she regretted making that choice, and she always said that she never did. But I think, that when I graduate from Hogwarts, I want to become a quidditch player just like her. A star. I think that would make her really proud."

He finished off quietly. There was silence between us, but not an awkward one, as I took in what he said, and he probably reflect on his own words.

He continued, "I've never told that to anyone, you know. That a small part of me really wanting to play quidditch professionally is because of her."

I smiled at him warmly and hesitated slightly, before saying, "I…I don't think it's something to be ashamed of. Wanting to make your mother proud. I think it's normal."

"Really, Miss Rosseau? So what's your confession? What do you want to be?" His face had now formed a cheeky look as he looked at me curiously.

"Well, when I was small, I did want to play Quidditch." I laughed loudly, "But I figured maybe there was something else I'd enjoy more. And I guess, maybe, I'd want to train to become a healer after school."

"Wow, a healer. That's certainly a change from a quidditch player." I nodded slightly distractedly.

"Your parents healers?" I glanced up sharply at this, looking up into his eyes. I wonder how much Emily had told him about me, about my mother.

I flew down, without answering him, ignoring his calls, as I took a deep breath and willed my body not to let out the tears that were threatening to fall from my eyes. It had been so long, I thought this was all over.

"Hey Lena, you alright? Did I say something?" James' voice came out, sounding concerned, "Cause if I did, tell me. I don't want to say anything to upset you." I smiled at this; could this boy get any more perfect?

Turning round to face him, I pulled myself up, making sure there was any remains of treacherous tears on my cheeks. I gave a watery chuckle and shook my head, looking at the ground, then facing his worried eyes.

"I'm fine" I shook myself and grinned, "I'm fine, really."

"Alright," he said, as if he didn't really believe me, "Well you can tell me if there is something bothering you. Oh look, people are starting to show up."

I look at the direction he was pointing in and indeed, there were masses of people coming towards us. I could spot a few noticeable redheads in the crowd, along with Al and Scorpius.

Rose and Lily came towards me, the latter with gear and broom in hand. "Hey, we got your note. Found your way alright?" Rose asked.

"Yeah, it was pretty easy to find. I just flew around a little bit with James." Lily gave me a cheeky wink as Rose rolled her eyes, before we all turned as James cleared his throat, his voice charmed to be loud.

I could see Emily in the stands, watching and grinning, as she sat with Lauren and giggled at James, who was talking. I gritted my teeth slightly, before asking myself why in Merlin I was doing so, and turned to face James again.

"I'm James Potter, your captain. We're hoping to find a chaser this year, but also if you manage to perform better than my previous team, then I'll consider you. All first years, people from other houses and those not trying out, please leave the pitch."

Many people, mainly girls, groaned and stalked off. That left only a few remainder of people.

"And to those left standing, welcome. I hope to find one of you worthy to join the most amazing team in Hogwarts." I could see the team rolling their eyes at his ego, as they mounted their brooms and took their positions in the sky.

"Our team so far, as many of you may know, is: my amazing brother, Al, as seeker, - so all seekers, I will tell you know that you have chance – and his best mate, Scorpy here, as a beater. Along with my best mate, Freddy boy, playing beater too. Then we have my dear sister, Lily, as my fellow chaser, and my other best mate, Aiden Wood, as keeper. Yes people, his dad is Oliver Wood." I gaped at this; Oliver Wood was a quidditch legend. "And as all of you know, I'm James Potter, chaser and captain of the Gryffindor Quidditch team! So, let the tryouts begin."

James made us go through a series of drills, before actually releasing us on the players. I think I did fairly well in the drills, as most of whom were trying out were my age or older. Playing with the team was a lot harder though; Aiden Wood was an amazing keeper, though I managed to get a few goals past him. I could see why James had praised Al so much, he had caught the snitch several times during the tryouts.

Finally, all the grueling work came to an end, as James blew his whistle and summoned everyone on the ground. He talked for a few minutes with the team, before facing us who were trying out, and said, "We looked at each and everyone of you really carefully. And I think that when me, Aiden and Fred leave here next here, many of you may have a really good shot at getting in. But for now, we're keeping the team as it is, so we've only decided one a Chaser."

A few people groaned and left the pitch, as I grimaced, my heart racing as I waited for the results.

"So on the whole, we've decided to welcome as our new Chaser…Lena Rosseau!"

He came forward and shook my hand, giving me a huge grin, as Fred and Aiden cat-called, and Lily squealed and ran forward to give me a huge hug.

"Rosseau, you were amazing out there," Aiden said, for the first time facing me. I blushed and thanking him quietly. "No one ever get's goals past me, but you were good!"

It was just the team remaining on the pitch now, as James gathered us round and said, "Well, I'd say that was a pretty good tryout, eh? Practice starting in two days, seven on the pitch sharp. We'll be starting with our favourite laps."

I groaned with the others, but the feeling of happiness didn't leave my body, not even when Emily came running towards us, hugging me first and congratulating me, before hugging James even more tightly. I turned away slightly, as Rose gave me a funny look, before coming over and hugging me too.

I felt on top of the world right now as Fred slung his arm round me, and we all made our way to the changing rooms. Even as I saw Emily and James behind us, his arm round her, her leaning into him as he whispered something into his ear, nothing could pop my happy bubble.

* * *

><p>Hope you liked that chapter!<p>

I just wanted to clear something up.

Lily and Hugo are in the same year (4th)

Lena is in Rose, Lauren, Albus and Scorpius' year. (6th)

Emily, Fred, James, Aiden, Dominique and Roxy are in the same year. (7th)

I will be introducing more Wotter kids into the story soon, just have to decide when.

-Vanillaberries


	3. Can't stop thinking 'bout it

And for the third chapter…

* * *

><p>It was my first day of lessons; Rose was perfectly prepared, and scanning through her timetable, Lily was groaning (very gracefully I must say) and Albus had a scowl on his face.<p>

And then in walks Scorpius, with a smirk on his face. Uh oh, he was looking at Rose. NOT a good sign.

"AAAH SCORPIUS MALFOY! YOU IDIOT!"

Great, he magically poured probably a litre of pumpkin juice on her. Dripping wet Rose with a red, angry face in the morning is not a happy Rose, let me tell you.

Scorpius was cackling gleefully whilst Albus was staring between the pair of them, trying his best not to laugh. Not to mention the fact that Rose's shirt was nearly see through and lots of guys were staring at her.

"Ugh you're such an ass, Malfoy!" she applied a drying spell to herself, and sat down again, avoiding the blonde boy who had sat down next to her.

"Hey Rosie, come on, it was a joke. You know that right?" He winked at her and gave her a charming smile. I could see Lily narrow her eyes as we watched Rose's cheeks turn slightly pink as she turned away and huffed.

Ha, I could literally see her mind plotting away with schemes of Rose and Scorpius together.

"So Lena, you excited for your first day of lessons?" Rose decided to shift her focus away to me. I shrugged, although inside, my stomach was giving me a hard time.

"I'm pretty nervous, I guess. I'm not sure exactly whether things are the same here in Hogwarts."

"Well, I'm sure we can help you out there." I turned round to face the voice, which was of course, James. He gave me a smile and sat down, ruffling Al's hair. The latter glared at his brother as he sat down.

"Jamie's right. We're all here for you, in every lesson, at every time to help you," my cousin sat down next to her boyfriend, helping herself to a couple of waffles. 'Jamie'? Really?

I don't know why exactly these little things were starting to annoy me. Although Emily and I sort of grew up together, there was never any rivalry or jealousy between us; we shared toys, candy, money and everything else. Why were these tiny things starting to piss me off suddenly?

When breakfast finished, Rosie, Al, Scorpius and I made our way to Herbology. Rose was trying to de-brief me on what to do right and what to do wrong, whilst Scorpius had resorted to sniggering at her.

"Lay off her, Rosie. You'll just make the poor girl even more nervous!" Al slung an arm round my shoulders, giving them a comfortable squeeze, as he sent his cousin a look. She huffed and turned to Scorpius, who was glad to have finally got her attention.

"Don't mind whatever Rose told you about. We've got Professor Longbottom, and he's a family friend, so don't worry, he's really nice and the Head of Gryffindor. Plus, if you sit next to Rose, you won't have a problem" And with this, he winked at me and took his place next to Scorpius who had sat down in front of Rose.

* * *

><p>The rest of the day flew by pretty easily. The group soon discovered that I didn't really need Rose's help with my work, although it definitely helped, since I was quite accomplished in my own way. My strength back in Beauxbatons, had definitely been Charms and Potions, and everyone was pretty shocked to find out I could brew a potion as well as Rose, or even better.<p>

"You should have seen her in Charms! We were doing the Avifors charm and she was changing all these things into big multicoloured birds! It was amazing, even Rosie said so." Al was talking animatedly to everyone else about my day's achievements, whilst Rose was gazing at me like a proud mother.

"It wasn't that great," I mumbled, feeling thoroughly embarrassed. "I guess I just seem to have a passion for Charms."

"Good. Another Rose to help me do my homework." Fred gave me a wink as everyone, but Rose, chuckled.

"Anymore surprises we should know about, Lena? Got a secret boyfriend stored somewhere?" James gave me a wink, and laughed loudly. I blushed whilst Lily reprimanded her brother for teasing me.

Soon, everyone started to go up to their dorms, and there was only us sixth formers and Lily left. As usual, Scorpius and Rose were at it again.

"You're such an asshole, Malfoy. You will always be! I don't even know how Al is friends with a git like you!" Al started protesting at this, but his words were quickly silenced by Scorpius.

"Well, for your information, Miss High-and-Mighty, I'm actually a nice person. That's why I'm friends with Al. You're the one who acts like she's got a stick up her ass!"

"A stick up MY ass? Ugh-you!" She lunged at him, but Al, with his quick Seeker reflexes, quickly stood up and held his cousin back from hitting his best friend.

"Al let me go! Just let me hit him once! Albus Potter, let me go!"

"No! You need to cool off. Both of you need to cool off! Scorp, just lay off of it, mate. Rosie, he's just kidding with you, you know that."

Scorpius' eyes narrowed. "I'm not kidding. You act like you're such a prize, Weasley, but who wants a shallow, heartless bitch like you?" He started smirking and crossed his arms over his shoulders as he, along with the rest of us, waited for Rose to retaliate.

She blinked once. Twice. Several times, actually.

All expression had left her face, as she stepped away from Al, and just looked at Scorpius, no glare, nothing. You'd think she was stone, the way she was standing. Even Scorpius looked slightly concerned now as the smirk dropped from his face, and he took a step closer to her.

And then, she turned around, and left the room.

* * *

><p>"Rose, you know you can talk to us." Lily pleaded with her cousin, who was currently sprawled on her bed, her long red hair shielding her from us.<p>

"There's nothing to talk about. Scorpius insulted me. We had a fight. That's it." she replied, with any emotion in her voice.

Lauren sighed, sitting on the redhead's bed. "You know that not's just it, Rose. He said something really awful, and it never goes this far," she said softly, making Rose get up so we could see her properly.

Her eyes were slightly red, as were her cheeks, and it was obvious she had been crying. She looked up to me and Lily with a sticken look; "It shouldn't be bothering me. He's always like this! It's our routine. I insult him, he insults me."

"But…" I said encouragingly. She sighed, and wiped the tears of her cheeks.

"But today, it actually hurt when he said those things. He never says things about like that, like he means them. He's always joking, trying to get a rise of out of me. He's called me arrogant, nerdy, stuck-up, but I've never heard him call me shallow or heartless." She finished off softly, her gaze lowered to her hands in her lap.

Lily took one step towards her cousin and rolled her eyes slightly. Always the dramatic, Lily.

"Scorp's an idiot, Rosie. You've known that since the first day. What's different now? Could, oh shocker," she mock gasped, "Could Scorpius Malfoy actually start to have an effect on you?"

Rose sat up indignantly and glared at her cousin, who was smirking a very Wotter smirk. I know right? Who knew that smirks were inherited too?

"He does not have an effect on me! He's Malfoy, my number one enemy and I hate him. God alone knows how Al tolerates him." She made a disgusted face, as we all laughed.

I smiled at her denial. "Maybe because he's not that all bad. I mean, it was wrong for him to say all those things about you, but he obviously cares enough about you Rose to annoy you so much."

Lily looked at me as if I was a God; "Wow Lena, smart, sporty, and you've got common sense. I like you very much." We all looked at her with a weird expression. "What? I'm just saying!"

We all laughed loudly, and Rose seemed to have cheered up, so I guess the whole emotional girl talk thing worked. Lily gave me a sly look now; uh oh- why do I get the feeling that means something bad?

"So Lena, you spotted any guys you might be interested in?"

Lily: confident, pretty, smart and oh surprise, boy-crazy.

I blushed slightly, thinking of her brother catching me on the train and smiling at me at breakfast. Unfortunately, Rose was too observant. "Oh look she's blushing. Come on, tell us! You know we can keep a secret."

I gave her an incredible look, along the lines of 'HOW? I just met you woman!'

She replied by giving me another look, saying 'Well we've been pretty good up till now right?"

"Okay, can you stop this whole look at each other, silent conversation thing? I want to know who's the guy!" Lauren squealed; I guess Lily did have some sort of effect on anybody.

"It's no one!" I protested, "Now can we just go to sleep? I'm so tired, it was an exhausting day." I added a yawn for effect, and Lauren and Lily seemed to buy it, but Rose looked at me suspiciously, yet went along with anyway. I knew she would probably ask me later. Oh joy.

* * *

><p>I woke up later, realizing I couldn't fall asleep. Maybe it was the time change or the fact that this was a completely new bed, I don't know. Lily and Lauren were both asleep, but Rose's bed was empty.<p>

I went down to the common room, and there she was, curled up on the sofa, with a mug of steaming hot chocolate in one hand, and a book (no surprise there) in the other.

She seemed to notice my presence, because she looked up and gave me a small smile. "I couldn't sleep so decided to come down here. It's nice, isn't it?"

I nodded, not really feeling in the mood to talk yet. We sat in silence, not uncomfortable, with her reading and me just gazing into the fire.

Finally, she cracked. "You couldn't sleep either?" I nodded again. "How come?"

"I don't know. Maybe I'm homesick, maybe it's just the fact that Hogwarts beds are slightly harder," at this she smiled, "I don't know."

She seemed satisfied with this answer. Then a sly grin creeped up on her face, as she asked me curiously, "Who is the guy you're interested in? I won't tell Lily or Lauren if you don't want me to."

I knew she would ask me this! Great.

"Well – this is going to be kind of awkward, and you're probably going to hate me for this. I don't even like him, he's just the one boy that I might consider, I don't know, I don't even like him and-"

"Lena, just spit it out!"

"It's James."

And the weirdest thing happened. I thought Rose would glare, or gasp, or do something dramatic like that, but in fact, she just smiled. SMILED.

"Thank you."

WHAT? What the hell does 'Thank you' mean?

"First, don't scream WHAT at me. Second, I kind of saw that coming, Lena." Oops, guess I said that part out loud.

She saw that coming. She saw that coming? How? I had only been here a couple of days!

"Look, I'm not going to lecture you on how it's wrong for you to be crushing or being interested in your cousin's boyfriend. It's normal, considering he's James. For girls outside the Wotter family, it's like a rite of passage that you pass when you fancy James. Or Fred, really. Besides, if they were serious or something it would be different."

This caught my interest. "So you don't think it's that wrong?"

"No, well, I don't know. I guess it depends what sort of situation you're in. Like Roxy and Dominique, for example. If you notice, they don't really talk much. Last year, Roxy had a boyfriend, and she really liked this guy a lot. The problem was, Dom liked him too, and she showed it; she flirted with him, and it was really obvious. And the guy was pretty stupid too, we realized. He fell for Dom's looks and her whole confident, sexy personality, and Roxy got really mad. They had this huge fight, and Dom eventually got the guy, before dumping him like she does with most guys."

"Wow Dom, really? I would have never guessed. She seems so…smart?"

Rose gave me a look, before giggling. "Just because she's in Ravenclaw does not mean that she has perfect common sense. It was a stupid decision of hers and she's paid for it."

"Well if you feel like that then how come you're not discouraging me about my situation?"

Rose sighed and took a sip of her hot chocolate. She opened her mouth before closing it again, as if making up her mind what to say. Finally, she confessed, "I just don't think you're that kind of person, Lena. Okay, granted I've only known you for a short span of time, but you don't seem like the person to totally mess with your cousin like that. And also, between you and me, the whole Emily – James thing is slightly messed up."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, they were friends. Just like everyone in our group is. But it's not like either of them showed any sort of interest in each other. In fact, Emily was going out with this guy, Seth. James, as usual, was going through girls and stuff. He had just dumped his recent girlfriend, and then all of a sudden, it was like a new Emily popped out of nowhere. She was suddenly sassy, really girly and confident; she even managed to drop her boyfriend. She got James' attention, and that was it. Lauren, Lily and I couldn't even believe the change in her. She was suddenly spending a lot more time with my dear cousin than us and frankly, it pissed us off. So if you ask me, no, I'm not a big fan of their relationship."

"How long ago was this?"

"Um, well they've been dating for about five months now."

"That's pretty long, with the way you compare James to a player."

Rose laughed and spread her feet along the table. "Don't get me wrong. He still is."

I laughed slightly, still distracted, and nodded as we fell back into silence. We decided to get up eventually, and try to get some sleep for the next day.

As Rose climbed the stairs to our dormitory, she stopped and looked down at me.

"Look, all I'm saying, is that I wouldn't put it completely off just because he's your cousin's boyfriend. It sounds completely wrong and it's probably the worst advice and I do feel terrible for saying this, but I don't think Emily and James will last very long. Heck, you've probably a lot more in common with him than she ever will."

And then, after giving me a knowing look, she turned back and made her way back to our room.

* * *

><p>So I hope you liked that! I wanted a little more insight into the characters so that's why I brought Lena's lovely talk with Rose in. How'd you like that?<p>

Please review! Tell me what was your favourite quote, favourite character so far? Did you like the story on Dom and Roxy? And ofcourse any suggestions or ideas for further chapters?

Thanks, Vanillaberries


	4. Cover it with chocolate and a miracle

Fourth chapter now up…

* * *

><p>I woke up, unable to forget Rose's words from last night. "You have more in common with James than Emily will ever have." Really? So I was alike to a hot, popular guy who was the son of Harry Potter, and had half of Hogwarts falling at his feet. Yes Rose, I do see a lot of resemblance there.<p>

Scorpius and Al met me at the entrance of the Great Hall; Scorpius looked nervous as he checked to see if I was alone. "Merlin, I am not ready to face Rose yet" he confessed, his gaze not meeting mine.

"Yeh, well, if you weren't such an idiot towards her, maybe you would be," I glared at him slightly, but a smile begrudgingly came through as he looked at me with guilty eyes.

A petite brunette suddenly came to us, her face forming a scowl as she fixated on Al. For the first time (although it's only been a few days), Al glared at the girl. She then turned to me, and I could finally see her pretty features coming out. She stuck her hand out to me, "Hi, we've not met before, and although you maybe have heard a lot of unpleasant things from Potter here, I am Arianna Bennett."

Wow, another Lily. Confident, sassy and of course, gorgeous. What is with the girls in Hogwarts being so attractive? Even the guys too!

Great, I just dozed off into my thoughts and now, they all were looking at me slightly strangely. I quickly shook her hand and gave her a small smile. Satisfied that I had now acknowledged her, she turned to Al once more.

"Glad to see you haven't polluted her yet, Potter," she said, giving him a small smirk. Al scowled, before giving her a wider smirk, and whispering near her ear, "What? Like I polluted you?"

The poor girl went red in the face, but I quickly realized she wasn't blushing. She slapped him and hissed, "Hell, if I ever try that again with you!" and stalked off.

Al shook his head, and after deciding we'd had enough drama for one morning, we walked in. Some of the Wotters were already seated, like James and Roxy and Fred.

James smiled as I sat down in Scorp and Al each side of me. We were just discussing Quidditch when there was a flash of red hair in front of us, and Rose sat down next to James, right in front of Scorpius.

I could see Scorpius swallow slowly, as if there was nothing more he wanted to do that get out of her. Rose finally looked up to him, gave a sickeningly sweet smile, and said, "Did I ruin your appetite, Malfoy?"

Although I could tell Rose wasn't still okay, it helped because I could see Scorpius smile slightly as he taunted her back. Merlin, those two should be in a TV show.

"So Lena," James was talking to me, "Are you going to the Wotter party tonight?" Wotter party? They have a party named after them too, seriously?

"Um, I'm not sure, I didn't even know there was even one on," I confessed. Al laughed slightly, before nudging me and said, "Don't worry, Jamie, I'll bring her along."

I gave him a big grin as he winked at me and continued eating. Boys, jeez. James was looking half confused, half glaring at us, specifically Al, but the expression only lasted a few seconds.

"It's great, you'll love it. All the best people from the other houses are there, well all Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs thirds year onwards and a couple of Slytherins. Only a couple though," he joked. I noticed the way his eyes lit up as he talked about pranking the Slytherins and thrashing them in Quidditch, and couldn't help but sigh contentedly.

Rose gave me a warning look as Emily and the rest of the Wotters sat down. I turned to talk to Lily, and I saw James out of the corner of his eye looking slightly affronted by my clear dismissal and turned to talk to Emily. Good. He could have her.

The girl named Arianna Bennett came to our table and started saying something to Rose; I noticed she had a Gryffindor crest on her robes and she looked to be about mine or Lily's age. "Don't bother with her, she thinks she's everything worth being," Al whispered to me. James snorted as he heard this, and gave him a look. Great, now they were having some sort of silent brother conversation.

"So…anyone want to tell me what is going on?"

They both looked at me, before Al shook his head. "It's better if you don't know; you don't want to get dragged up into all of this." Arianna had now moved Scorp up, and seated herself next to me. She gave me and James warm smiles, but failed to acknowledge Al.

"So James, how's the team coming along? I heard you introduced new girl here into the team." James nodded, then said confidently, "We're kicking ass. You won't have any problems when you're commentating on our games."

Al snorted loudly. "Right, 'cause commentating on Quidditch is so hard," he said snidely. Somehow, this side of Al only seemed to pop up when Arianna was around.

"Look Potter, I'm not here to pick fights. In fact, since I'm feeling somewhat nice this year, I decided to make truce," she finished off, sticking her hand out to him. Al looked shocked for a moment, and then gave a casual smirk as he shook it, saying. "Why not? What harm can it do?"

James was now looking warily between the two, as if he didn't believe for a second what was going on. Arianna now tuned back to her food, looking somewhat satisfied with herself.

* * *

><p>I realized after the bell rang that I had a free period. Al and Scorpius had one too, but they had snuck off somewhere, so I couldn't find them. I was walking down the corridor, humming the tune to a song, and looking at the portraits, when I collided with someone.<p>

"I'm so sorry…James?" I looked, confused. "Don't you have class right now?"

He helped me back onto my feed and dusted himself off. "Yep, but there's no harm in missing class once in a while, is there?" he winked, "Besides, I asked Emily or Fred whether they wanted to join, but Fred was sleeping and Emily said she couldn't afford to miss this particular lesson."

I nodded. Of course he'd ask Emily – she's his girlfriend. "So where are you heading?" I asked, curious to see where the infamous James Potter spent his time. "Well I have one place in mind, you fond of chocolate?" he gave me a cheeky grin. I could only laugh in response.

Turns out his idea of passing by free time was going through secret passages and going against all school rules. We were walking through a dark passageway when I asked him. "Where are we going?" He laughed at my impatience, but said nothing.

We eventually reached a dead-end with a small trapdoor above. He helped me up through the hole, and I could only gaze in amazement at our surroundings. There were rows and rows of chocolate: white, dark, milk, nuts…the list was endless. Finally, I looked at James, who was chuckling in amusement at my astonished expression.

"This is amazing James! How did you discover it?"

He removed an old, rolled up parchment from his pocket and said, "With a little help from my granddad and his friends." He then proceeded to go pick some chocolate off the shelves and broke it into two pieces, handing one to me.

"You- you just stole some chocolate!" I said, shocked.

"Na, whenever I come here and get something, I always leave some money on the table. Besides the lady upstairs who sells the chocolate loves me, well my family really, so doubt she minds."

I nodded. There was always something to discover about James Potter.

"Hey James, can I ask you something?" I asked softly "Well you already have, but go on," he joked, his face now becoming slightly serious.

"What's the deal between Al and Arianna?" my voice was slightly small, I was unsure as to how he would react to my question. He looked up at me sharply, his eyes slightly narrowed, and I thought to myself, 'Oh no, I asked the wrong thing!' but his face relaxed and he said warily, "Al was right when he told you it was better not to get involved, but I guess I could tell you this. Arianna and Al have history together, and it's not all bad. They didn't always hate each other you know?"

I found it sweet how he was trying to be loyal to his brother and obey his wishes, but I couldn't help but wonder about Al and this girl. If they were once close, how come they weren't anymore?

I know, I'm nosy. Sue me.

"But why would you care?" James' suspicious voice broke my thoughts as his eyes narrowed once more. "It's not as if you and Al are a thing right?" I let out a loud laugh; me and Al? What? Sure, he had been one of the nicest to me since I got here, but doubt there was any chance Al had feelings for me. Besides, I was already, sort of interested in his brother. But of course, I couldn't tell James that.

"Nope, no way. He anyways seems to have too much drama in his life for me to add to it even more. " I joked playfully. James chuckled and agreed with me.

"Good," he finally said, "I mean – well, as Emily's cousin, you've now become part of the Wotter clan, therefore we all look out for each other. For all girls, that means protecting them from guys who want to date them."

Of course. He was only asking me because I was Emily's cousin. And he probably only brought me here and showed me this place because I was Emily's cousin. I forced a smile back onto my face and replied back, "Even your own brother?"

"Especially my own brother. Two people to protect then." He winked at me and helped me onto my feet as we made our way back to Hogwarts. I couldn't stop the nagging feeling at the back of my mind, telling me I was treading on slippery ground here.

* * *

><p>We came back late for the next lesson and although Professor Burrows did not notice me as I slipped into Potions, Rose certainly did.<p>

"Where were you?" she hissed, pulling me down into my seat sharply. "I screamed at Al and Malfoy for not taking you along with them!"

I couldn't answer her truthfully; knowing Rose, she'd give me a look, and would be all over it.

"I was…just roaming around. Guess I lost track of time," I shrugged, hoping she would let it go. She did. "Alright, just don't be late next time! You may be good at Potions, but even you can't afford to miss a lesson!"

As we exited, we bumped into James and Fred; the latter winked at me and whispered, "So did you enjoy your little trip with Jamesie, Frenchie?" I blushed a deep red as he walked off with James, his laugh booming through the corridor.

Unfortunately for me, Rose heard. (She is like a ninja, she notices everything!) She looked at me accusingly before saying sarcastically, "Yes, I'm sure you had a _lovely_ stroll _on your own_." I could only shuffle my feet in response.

Her tone then turned softer. "Look, I know I told you last night it was alright to like him, but just be careful, alright? I know Emily may be your cousin and all, but that just may bring more trouble into the whole thing."

"But I don't want to take him away from her. I wouldn't ever try anything," I protested, sincerely meaning what I was saying.

She dragged me into a nearby, empty classroom and said, "I know you wouldn't do something like that, but that's not how it may look. Emily knows she was lucky when she caught James' attention and some part of me believes that she actually does like him. But if she ever finds out that you're spending time with him like this, I doubt she'd fail to see you as a threat. The new Emily would at least. So just be careful. You can already see how much he likes you." She gave a very Rose smirk, and headed off towards the library.

What she said was right, it did make sense. I doubt Emily would be forgiving if she found out how much exactly I had enjoyed her boyfriend taking me on a trip through secret passageways, to a chocolate shop where no one could find us.

When did everything get so complicated for me I went from being a simple girl in Beauxbatons, the daughter of one of the school's finest alumni, to this living on the edge, missing classes type of girl who had kind of feelings for her cousin's boyfriend.

Yes, I admitted it. I have sort of feelings for him. Round of applause for me.

I turned round the corner and started to join Lily, who was walking with Arianna. Why was I bumping into this girl so much today?

"Hey Lena, have you met Ari?" Lily called out, pointing towards the brunette beside her. I nodded and introduced myself. "Hi, I'm Lena Rosseau, I'm actually in your year and house."

She smiled, nodding, "I know. Hogwarts grapevine. So you're the girl who hangs out with Potter. Interesting." I could feel her scrutinizing gaze on me but before I could say anything, Lily got there before me. "There's nothing going on between them, Ari. At least I don't think so." I shook my head quickly.

Maybe I should just make an announcement, saying that Al and I are not interested in each other. I'm serious!

Arianna then relaxed and smiled once more. "I'm sorry, just checking. Making sure he isn't corrupting every girl in Hogwarts."

Lily laughed. "You do realize that's my brother you're talking about, right?" Arianna nodded, and Lily continued, "I hope someone had told you about the party tonight. Ari's coming too and it's going to be amazing. Since it's James and Fred's last year, they're going all out."

Arianna smirked and said to me, "You look nervous. Don't be. Hogwarts parties are always filled with drama, so you'll be thoroughly entertained."

Lily snorted. "Says the girl who made a very stupid mistake last time she was at one." Arianna gave her a glare and continued, "A few tips for you? Stay out of Fred's way when he's drunk, he tends to get…touchy. Don't be surprised if you see Rose and Malfoy screaming at each other. Lily here gets quite spunky too, and Lauren even manages to catch a guy. Oh, and not to miss the very _pleasant_ sight of James and your cousin sucking each other's faces off."

I was really starting to like this girl. She clearly thought alike to me. I gave out a giggle and she continued, explaining who to stay away from and who to look out for. She decided to come back to our dorm to get ready as Lily had promised to lend her one of her party dresses.

As soon as we entered, Lily scurried off to get her make-up bag and all the other 'necessities' whilst Rose was rummaging through my clothes…wait, my clothes?

I barely registered what was happening before she flung three dresses at me; one blue, red and white. "Go try them on and show me all," she ordered, pushing me in the direction of the bathroom. The blue and red one didn't really seem appropriate for this party, but the white, strapless one was cute and everyone seemed to approve of it.

Lily worked on my make-up, Ari worked on my hair and Lauren chose my shoes. I looked at myself in the mirror and couldn't hide the shock off my face. Lily had given my face a very natural look and Ari had put a straightening charm on my hair, making me look just right.

"Phew, now you've experienced a proper makeover our style," Rose flopped down onto the bed. To be honest, everyone looked fantastic.

Lily wore a cute, purple lace dress, Rose had gone for black, and Lauren went bold with gold. (I know, it rhymes, right?) But the one that really surprised me was Ari. She had curled her own hair. and wore a sea green dress, which brought out her coloured eyes. She seemed almost shy, conscious as we asked her to twirl for us.

"Wow Ari, can't believe I am saying this, but for once you have my permission to take one of my dresses," Lily said, which I suppose was a compliment coming from her.

Lauren praised her too, but Rose's reaction was the most interesting.

"Al's going to go crazy when he sees you, Ari," she said so softly, I could hardly hear her. I thought Arianna would scowl or frown or ever protest but she just blushed and mumbled "Shut up."

I seriously need to find out what's going on between them.

Lily's voice broke my thoughts. "Come on girls, ready to kick some ass at this party."

* * *

><p>I hope you liked that chapter! I'm quite proud of it! Also, it's my longest so far, nearly touching 3000 words, so I am getting closer. What did you guys think of Arianna? She is really growing on me!<p>

Next chapter is the party yay I'm excited but nervous to write about it because I'm so scared I'll get it all wrong. Anyways, leave me a review and tell me what you liked, disliked, any suggestions…

-Vanillaberries


	5. When you lose something you cant replace

And here's the fifth chapter…

* * *

><p>We descended the stairs and I could hear some of the cries and protests of the Wotter boys as they took in Lily and Rose's appearances. Lily walked off, leaving her brother fuming behind her. I placed a hand on Al's shoulder, trying to calm him down, but laughing at the same time.<p>

"Did you see what she was wearing, Lena? She was dressed like a…prostitute! What the hell! I've got to go knock some sense into…woh, Bennett," his voice trailed off as he caught sight of Arianna standing behind me.

Her emotionless face didn't waver as she stepped forwards and greeted him, not unkindly, "Potter, as always, good to see you too."

They seemed to be having some sort of stare competition: uh hello? Right here, you know? Just a random blonde girl waving her hands in your faces. Okay, no response. What nice friends I've made here.

I went to find Rose who was on the sofa as promised. I flopped down beside her and grumbled, "Al and Ari are in the middle of a staredown." Rose grunted in response, her gaze fixated on a certain blonde boy, who was in the middle of the dance floor with…Dominique?

"Rose," I said cautiously, "This is nothing, you know that. Scorp loves to play around, you know that. And you said yourself that Dominique always gets her way with guys."

She shrugged, trying to distract herself, but failing miserably. "What does he see in her? Okay she's my cousin and she's got the whole Veela genes thing, but she's not Vic or something. She's not like the 'it' girl, is she?"

I shook my head, trying to reassure this girl who had grown so close to me. "Besides, Rose, they don't even look right for each other."

She seemed satisfied with my response, because she gave me a quick hug and stood up, saying mischievously, "You know what? I think I better show Malfoy what I'm made of!"

I could only cheer her on as she walked up to him, didn't say a word but took his hand, and pulled him close to her. He looked shocked at first, but he relaxed as he put his arms around her waist. Aww, Scorpy and Rosie – such a cute couple.

"Can you please explain to me why exactly my cousin is dancing with Scorpius like that?" James' voice came from beside me, sounding half-amused, half-threatening.

I laughed and smiled at him, "Maybe because she wants to."

Clearly that was the wrong thing to say. Thank you, tongue. Very good job you've done today.

He just started to make his way to them when I grabbed his arm firmly and he stumbled into me. I could sense his face inches away from mine, but I didn't look up completely in fear of melting right there.

"Don't be stupid," I whispered, my hand never moving from his arm. "They're having a good time." I hoped he would listen to me and just stay here, and fortunately he did.

"Alright," he whispered back, his hand now coming to lift my chin up so I could face him.

Aaah, kill me right now. Or I think I might die of too much excitement. But of course, it's always too good to last.

"Lena, Jamie," Emily's voice rang out over James' shoulder, as she made her way to us with two drinks. I hadn't realized it but James had already taken a step back and she placed a hand on his arm playfully. "I was looking for you everywhere, and now I see you're chatting up my cousin!"

I laughed nervously along with them, Rose's advice on being careful lingering at the back of my mind. She started snogging him, and I quickly excused myself before I threw up, seeing them.

True to Arianna's word, I stayed clear of Fred, who anyways didn't need the company with 5 girls at the bar. Lily was missing, Lauren was dancing with this cute guy, Al and Ari were nowhere to be seen, and Rose and Scorpius…were exiting the party together? Uh oh, I just hoped they didn't run into any Wotter boys.

I made my way to the bar, and just sat there. I only knew a few people in Hogwarts; all of them were currently occupied so…

"You look thoroughly entertained," a boy sat down beside me. He wasn't gorgeous like James or super cute like Al, but he was definitely attractive with his shiny (so shiny!) sandy brown hair and blue eyes and an easy smile.

I must have been silent for quite long because he waved a hand in front of my face, and said my name repeatedly. "Sorry!" I apologized, "Guess I was slightly distracted."

"No problem," the guy said, "I'm Liam Sanders, seventh year Ravenclaw."

"Lena Rosseau, year below you," I mumbled. What is wrong with me?

He laughed. "Yeh I know. So I was just wondering, you and younger Potter got a thing going on?" Are you serious? Now the whole big announcement idea sounds very tempting. "No, me and Al are just good friends."

"Good, because I think I quite like you." That took me by surprise. A freaking hot guy thinks he likes me? Aaah, pinch me.

"You going to say something or you just going to sit there not saying anything?" I blushed and mumbled "Sorry," before he laughed again and ordered a drink for himself.

"So you liking Hogwarts so far or is France better off?" "Um, well I guess things back there were always so perfect and beautiful; it's a nice change to come here and actually see a lot of people without silver hair."

He laughed again. He seems to do that a lot. I have no idea why, I'm not a funny person. Maybe he's laughing at my stupidness. If that's even a word. "I also heard that you made it as Chaser on the Gryffindor Quidditch team. That's impressive considering your captain's James Potter. He's a Quidditch Nazi." I laughed at that. It was complete true. Over the past few days, James had been ruthless towards us and he claimed he was going 'easy on us'. Pfft, my ass, easy. Boy doesn't know what he's talking about.

"Yep, he tends to get slightly crazy." His eyebrows raised as I said slightly, "Do you play Quidditch?"

"Yes, yes I do. I am one of the best beaters on the Ravenclaw quidditch team," he said confidently, as he puffed out his chest slightly. I giggled and replied back, "There are only two beaters, silly!" We both started laughing loudly, and received quite a lot of stares from people nearby.

"Hey Liam. Come join us, we're deciding on a bet," a voice called out to the boy beside me, and I could see a few people beckoning him over. He shook his head, pointing towards me, but I insisted he go. "Go! Your friends are waiting for you." "My friends can wait for me." I rolled my eyes at his stubbornness and gave him a playful push in their direction. He turned back to me for a last time and said, "I'd like to have many conversations like that one in the future, Miss Rosseau," leaving me with a big grin.

I hopped off the bar stool and decided to head to the kitchens (shown to me by Scorp and Al) for some proper food. This had been the perfect ending to this day. Liam was a lot like me, and it didn't hurt that he measured high on the attractive scale.

As I left the room, I heard voices slightly up the corridor, and decided to investigate as they sounded familiar. And I like to know things. A familiar green dress came into view as I peeked around the corner; I wondered who Arianna was talking to before I saw the black, messy hair. Al?

"What were you thinking, Al? He just asked me to dance!" she cried out. He ruffled his hair and shook his head several times before spluttering out, "He was all over you Ari- Bennett! A few more minutes and you'd be in his bed!"

Her eyes narrowed dangerously on him as she took a step forward and prodded his chest. "Do you think that I'm actually one of those girls with no brains, and just sleeps with or even snogs a guy she doesn't want to?"

"Ari-" "No, don't say my name!" "I'm just looking out for you!" I could hear the frustration in her voice as she yelled, "I don't need you to protect me! I am not your sister, your friend, not even your girlfriend, I'm just-" "Someone I care about." His voice came through softly, stopping her rant, and making her look up into his green, sincere eyes.

I can't believe I didn't think of this before, they made such a cute couple. They even are perfect height for each other, and they'd have such adorable kids with green eyes, some with blue, black or brown hair…

"Why?" her voice, sounding slightly heartbroken, whispered. Then she spoke slightly stronger, "You made it clear last year that was nothing but a game, and what happened at the end of last year was nothing."

"Nothing? You know that's not true, Ari."

"Well, do you blame for believing that? You used me Al! I was a game to you. A fucking game!"

Okay now I was confused. Ari and Al…had been somehow involved? Al used her? I continued listening in, the nosy person that I am.

"And I said I was sorry for that!" he clutched onto her shoulders, trying to make her reason with him, "I was stupid enough to think it wouldn't affect anyone. I even asked you if we could move past it!"

"Well I decided to give it a week before making up my mind, but oh by then, Al," she replied back, now sarcastically, "You already had Jenna Hannigan all over you, didn't you?" She seemed satisfied and disgusted with Al's silence as she continued, "And you know what was the worst part of it? I had to hear about it from Jenna every day after that, until you were done with her too. Guess you finally realized what she was truly like, huh?"

He said nothing to her, and it all became slowly clear to me how much Ari must be feeling betrayed. True, I didn't know the whole story, but whatever I could piece together, made me feel sick for her.

"Look Al," her tone now wary, "When I asked for a truce, I didn't just mean fighting. I meant all this emotional, going back and forth stuff too. Maybe it's better off for us this way."

I could hear footsteps coming closer to the place I was hiding at, and I quickly shuffled into a broom closet before she could see me. Watching through the cracks between the door, I waited as Arianna walked away, with tears streaming down her face. It was a while until Al finally passed by too, and only then, did I exit from my hiding spot.

I was walking back to the common room, my trip to eat completely forgotten, as I thought about what Ari had said, I had no idea who this Jenna Hannigan girl was, but she sounded like a complete bitch. If I was Ari, I'd give her a piece of my mind. Or my fist. And no, I'm not usually a violent person.

I scoffed as I passed by a couple of teenagers wrapped around each other, especially one which was making some very loud sounds behind the tapestry. Hang on a second…I knew those people! No, it couldn't be!

"Lily?" my stunned voice blurted out before I could help myself, and she broke apart from the guy and looked at me sheepishly. She was still hiding him from me, and for a minute, I was hoping my eyes had deceived me. So many thoughts were racing through my mind, as she started saying something. I could only hear specific words: 'James', 'secret', 'kill', 'best friend'…none of it registered. All I could see was the guy's slight smirk as he stepped into view.

* * *

><p>Ooooh cliffie! Haha maybe some of you may be able to guess who it is, so let me know what you think. Oh and btw did anyone notice the subtle gossip girl line that I added in there? ;)<p>

Besides the ending, how did you like finding out a little more about Arianna and Al? Surprise, no surprise? Like them, don't like them? Also, got a few reviews asking whether Al has a thing for Lena. Would you be up for that kind of thing?

Also, I know it's a short chapter but I did update super quickly! :D

Thanks -VB


	6. Live young and wild and free

The sixth chapter is now up! Yay!

* * *

><p>"Nice to see you again," Aiden said, slinging his arm round Lily's shoulders. She shrugged it off quickly, still looking at me, worried for my reaction.<p>

"Look Lena, I know you may not approve," she said hurriedly, "but please do not tell my brothers. Especially James. He will slaughter us both! And this is the first time this has happened, it was a mistake! So please Lena, please say you won't tell them."

"I won't tell them, don't worry," I assured her, still looking at her disappointedly, "But really Lily? Your brother's best friend who's two years older than you, and a massive player?" At least she hung her head in shame, even as Aiden cried out 'Hey!'

"And you," I turned on him, glaring, and was glad to see he had gone slightly pale, "Out of all the girls to pick you, you pick on Lily? Don't you realize how messy things could become here? And Lily's right. If James ever finds out this happened, I really doubt he's going to have a lot of sympathy for you. So just be glad, I'm saving you from being pummeled to the ground."

I let him go eventually, and made sure me and Lily made our way to the dorms. Rose was still missing, which seemed quite unusual, but Lauren was already sound asleep. Lily quickly fell asleep, not before thanking me again, but I stayed up for a while, waiting for Rose.

Finally, after what seemed like hours, she walked in with a big grin on her face.

Hmph. She looked like a lovesick puppy; I wondered if it had anything to do with Scorpius.

"Where were you?" I hissed, as she finally took notice of me, "Lily and I left ages ago."

"I was with Scorpius," she blushed, "We went to the kitchens and then headed up to the Astronomy tower because he didn't feel like going to the party again. We just talked and stuff but I realised that there was a lot more to him that I thought. He apologized for calling me all those names, and we decided maybe we should be friends or something along the lines of that now."

I didn't what to say at first. Malfoy had miraculously become Scorpius, and they had 'talked and stuff'? From what I had seen, they wouldn't miss a chance to argue.

"Well someone had a change of heart," I commented, waiting for her reaction, but she just changed the subject quickly.

"So what happened with you? Meet anyone to distract you from my cousin?" she winked at me, now all traces of red vanished from her cheeks. "After all, he was so subtly attaches to his girlfriend." She wrinkled her nose in slightly disgust.

I laughed. "Yes, you'll be glad to know I did meet someone, and he's someone you'd like. Smart," Rose's eyes lit up at this and I couldn't help but roll mine, "witty, and very attractive. Liam Sanders, you know him?" Rose squealed slightly and I winced, taking that for a yes.

If this is what spending time with Scorpius does to her, I am totally against their friendship. Only joking.

"Liam Sanders, Lena? That's a good catch! And a very good one to take your mind off my cousin. Did you two snog?" she asked enthusiastically.

I grumbled slightly before replying. "No, we didn't snog. We just talked, maybe even flirted a little bit. And he even asked me if I had a thing for Al? What is up with that? Then his friends called him over, so I told him he should go."

"Did you want him to go?" "Well no…not really, it was nice to talk to him."

Cue: more squealing. My ears don't like you very much right now, Rose Weasley. And yes, I just addressed my ears as if they were people.

A moan from Lily told us to shut up and go to bed, so I promised, per her request, that I would give her more details tomorrow.

* * *

><p>Very few people were at breakfast the next morning, thanks to all the hangovers. Al, Rose and I were sitting when Scorpius joined us, looking tired but still happy.<p>

"Hi Rose," he said quite shyly, and I just wanted to scream awww. "Hi Scorpius," she replied back, indicating for him to sit next to her as they engaged in a conversation.

Al whispered to me, his eyes wide, "What's going on? Is this some kind of joke?" I shook my head as his eyes become even larger. (How is that possible?) "Nope, they had some sort of realization moment where they decided to be friends."

"But, but, that's just…strange!" Al struggled to form his words. "Same thing I was thinking. Speaking of strange, mind telling me about how speechless you got at Arianna yesterday?"

Al froze and started picking at his food, clearly avoiding the question. "I don't know what you're talking about."

I scoffed quite attractively. "So it wasn't you who was making googly eyes at her?" "Well…she looked different." "Pretty?" "No, just different!" he protested vehemently. God, this boy was so in denial.  
>"Fine, so, if say, a hot guy came up to her and asked her out, you wouldn't mind at all?" I'm pretty sure my eyes were gleaming wickedly. That's how cool I am.<p>

His eyes flashed, as I knew they would, before he said in a controlled voice, "Bennett can do whatever she wants to. It doesn't bother me." And he closed the subject. "Au contraire, Al, au contraire," I said softly, although he didn't quite hear me.

Someone tapped my shoulder, and I whirled around, hitting Al with my hair in the process. It was Liam Sanders. Great, he'd seen me hit one of my friends in the face with my HAIR. Could this get any more embarrassing?

"Hey Lena, you still remember our conversation from yesterday?" he smiled at me. I think the temperature just rose in here.

"Yep 100%!" A bit too enthusiastic maybe? "Good, just making sure you weren't drunk or something. Would you like to join me for breakfast?"

I hesitated slightly. Apart from Liam, who I had just met yesterday, I didn't know anyone in Ravenclaw. Aside from Dominique, I guess, and she preferred to sit with her family. And I enjoyed sitting next to the Wotter family.

"Why don't you come join us instead?" Rose had been watching us keenly and I guess she couldn't resist. Liam looked surprised, but then quickly sat down next to me, and helped himself. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Al and Scorpius looking at him suspiciously.

I glared at them both, hoping they would understand. They did. "So Liam," Scorpius started off, and I wanted to hug him, "Hear you're a big fan of the Tornadoes." Quidditch? I mean I know I play it, but boys took it to crazy limit. Although, it seemed to have made a difference, because Liam replied back smoothly, and both boys visibly relaxed as they started talking animatedly about the sport.

Rose gave me a look as in 'Nice Work' and I rolled my eyes, but still grinned despite it. Emily sat down, and sent me a questioning look, her eyebrows raised at Liam beside me.

"Lena's got herself a little crush," Rose whispered to her, not exactly very quietly, and Emily squealed. I glared at them and told them to shut up as Liam faced me.

"I'm glad you introduced me to your friends," he grinned, "But I did come here to talk to you." He was so cute when he said that, I couldn't help but get lost in his face. The way his eyes flickered over to mine every few seconds, and his lips would quirk up into a smile. "Will you stop staring at me? It's only becoming the slightest bit creepy," he teased me and I blushed. Trust myself to be caught staring by him. "I was wondering if you'd like to spend a little time with me, maybe when you're free or something. Not as a date or anything, just to get to know each other."

I giggled slightly at his rambling, and leaned a bit closer to him as I whispered, "I'd like that." Our moment was interrupted as someone cleared their throat behind us. We separated slightly in surprise and looked up to the face of James Potter.

His defined jaw was slightly tense, and his eyes seemed to have a stormy look to them, which slightly scared me. He flickered his gaze between me and Liam, then called the Quidditch team to the field for a meeting. His eyes were slightly red, probably from last night's drinking, and he avoided my gaze as I got up from my seat and hugged Liam goodbye.

Everyone looked confused as to why he was calling us for a meeting, but we followed him silently. I glanced over to Lily, who was keeping her distance from Aiden, and frowned; I needed to talk to her more about yesterday.

When we finally reached the pitch, he turned on us, ruffling his hair with one hand. "I've decided we're going to do some exercises throughout the term to build our strength as a team, and learn to trust one another. So you're going to pair up and work together. You will practice together, even you if you are not in the same positions, and you look out for them. Any questions?" Silence. "Good. Alright, go ahead, get a partner."

Fred chose Scorpius because he decided he wanted to work with someone who 'actually knew how to whack those bludgers'. Al screamed "I choose Lena!" straight after, but for some reason, James disagreed.

He looked at me briefly before saying, "Lena's new, she needs the most work." Ouch. Something must have flickered across my face because he then continued to say, "I need to run through all the tactics with her. Strengths, weaknesses, that sort of thing. Al, go with Scorp and Fred. Lily, guess you're stuck with Aiden."

Lily looked horrified (luckily her brothers weren't looking) but Aiden just smirked and pulled her towards the broom shed. She looked at me, her eyes wide, and I couldn't help but feel sorry for her.

Al joined the beaters, dismayed at not having gotten me, but glad to be with his best friend. James turned to me, and muttered, "Come on, let's start." We sat down on one of the stands, as he explained some of the plays, and our players' signature moves. Occasionally, his hand would brush over mine, and although I confined my blush away, the butterflies in my stomach did just not stop fluttering.

When we finished, he left without a word, and I frowned, wondering what was wrong with him. Lily and I headed up to the castle, her complaining of getting Aiden as a partner, and what would happen if James found out.

* * *

><p>The day flew by pretty quickly after that; Transfiguration was only the slightest bit awkward. Rose and Scorpius had decided to sit together and I was stuck in between Al and Ari. Although she tried to make an attempt at conversation, he blatantly ignored her. Eventually she got pretty mad.<p>

"Lena, can you tell Al to pass me another button?" she gritted out, after attempting and failing to transfigure her button into a piece of furniture. I started to translate this to Al, but he just wordlessly passed me one before I finished.

Now this was pissing me off. Al, being amazing at transfiguration, just lay back in his seat, flicking his wand around, whilst Arianna was close to breaking hers into pieces because she couldn't do it.

"Need some help, Bennett?" Al's snarky voice called out, and it wasn't just Arianna's face that was laced with frustration. I heard her exhale loudly beside me, trying to calm herself down, as she replied coolly, "None from you thanks."

I snorted and glared at Al, who looked amused, however his eyes had darkened considerably. Good. Serves the prat right.

"Well, then why don't you go fetch Johnson? I'm sure he'd love to help you out, especially after last night," he proclaimed, knowing that it would get a rise out of her. He was right.

She didn't turn to him, but I could see her shoulders shaking with fury. Uh oh. I didn't particularly want to be part of a scene in class. Slowly she turned round and looked him dead in the eye. And boy, if I was Al, I would want to take those words back.

Then all of a sudden, she flung her hair over shoulder, and flashed him a smile, saying, "Maybe I will." She walked over to a nearby table (we had class with the Hufflepuffs) and tapped this guy on the shoulder. He looked excited to see her, and when she asked him loudly, "Hey Eric, come to Hogsmeade with me?" his smile widened even further.

I have no idea where Hogsmeade was, but I guess she was asking him on a date because Al's jaw started twitching, as he clenched his fists until his knuckles were going white. I put my hand on his, and slowly unclenched them, but he just glared at the pair in front of him.

"À bon chat, bon rat," I whispered to myself, feeling happy for Ari that she threw him off guard. Al gave them one last glare, and then stalked out of the classroom.

* * *

><p>I hope you all liked that chapter! Did you expect it to be Aiden?<p>

À bon chat, bon rat actually is a French saying meaning Tit for tat, I just learnt it from my teacher! I wanted to show Lena's French side a little bit so hope that did a bit…

And what do you think of Liam so far? I have got to say, his name was inspired by One Direction (:

I was tempted to name him Niall or Zayn, but Liam and Lena sounded kinda cool so decided to go with that. This chapter was written in a bit of a rush, so I think it's a bit all over the place, but please leave a review and tell me what you think!

-Vanillaberries


	7. Cause I'm just a teenage dirtbag baby

Hope you like this chapter!

* * *

><p>Between classes and Quidditch practice, I didn't see everyone very often. So when Rose informed me we were all spending time after dinner, I was relieved and excited at the same time. Ari and Al were still ignoring each other, which bothered us a lot. When we asked Ari about it, she just stated that 'Potter was a selfish, jealous git with no emotions of kindness in his body.' We lay off her after that.<p>

I had initially thought that having James as a partner in our practices was going to be a good thing, but he kept things very professional. Every time we finished, he would walk off silently instead of picking up a conversation with me. It puzzled and angered me at the same time.

We were all in the common room, most of us having a free period, when a slightly tall, gorgeous woman walked in. And I'm not even kidding, she was the epitome of gorgeous. Long, slightly curly blonde-silvery hair, I could tell she had Veela genes, and bright, blue eyes. A few of the Wotters went up to her and hugged her, whilst I just sat there slightly awkwardly. Even Emily seemed to recognize her.

She seemed to notice me, and walked in my direction.

"Hi, I'm Victoire Weasley, Louis and Dom's sister," she said, warmly, giving my hand a squeeze.

Another Weasley? She must have been the oldest Rose was telling me about. She turned to the rest of the family and raised her hand slowly. I could see a glittering diamond on her finger, and judging from the gasps, others could too.

"I'm engaged. Teddy proposed," she said softly, as some of the girls attacked (I'm serious, literally attacked her). Even some of the guys, especially Al and Fred, whooped loudly as everyone hugged her. I saw Dominique slip out of the room slowly, not offering her congratulations to her sister.

Victoire seemed to notice her missing presence.

Where's Dom?" she was grinning a bit, but it dropped as no one replied her. She fingered her ring a bit, and said quietly, "She still mad at me?"

Rose tried to comfort her, "You know that's not true. She's just slightly jealous, that's all."

Roxy then snorted. "Well, she's got to snap out of it. She can't have everything. This is Vic's day." A few people agreed with her but Victoire shook her head.

"No, she's got a point. Every time she had something big, I always had something bigger. And she already feels like I've got Teddy, but I don't deserve him," she said softly. "I've always got the feeling she had a crush on him."

"It's nothing like that. It's just 'cause she doesn't have anyone like that and you do. You've always had Teddy," Louis piped up, putting his arms around her shoulders, trying to comfort her. I kind of felt bad for her, even though I didn't know her – she seemed sweet enough.

"Anyways, she'll get over it. Tell us how he proposed," Lily exclaimed excitedly, and the girls squealed again, as Victoire smiled and began her story. I sat back and mainly observed the whole family; they were so lucky they had each other. And most of them were so close too. I had only one parent and no siblings, which made me value every moment I spent with their family.

Victoire eventually left, but there was still not sight of Dominique. I didn't spend much time with her but she seemed the most distant from the family. Even little Lucy, who just joined this year (yes, the red-head in the sorting) was an enthusiastic little thing.

I had become so wrapped up in their family drama, I forgot about meeting up with Liam. So I approached him after class one day and asked him if he wanted to go to the library later on, before I headed off to the common room to be with my friends.

Truthfully I liked Liam well enough. He wasn't overly flirty but definitely made me blush and giggle like a 13 year old. And even better, he wasn't involved with anyone, especially like my own cousin. So what if I didn't completely melt in his presence? So what if my whole face didn't heat up when he was close to me?

When I told Rose I had a sort of date with Liam in the library, she squealed. (yes, _again_) Go figure. A date in the library is probably her dream date. Which brought me to the topic of Rose and Scorpius, The idiot still hadn't asked her out, or done anything and it had been _days_. If I was her, I would just ask him out myself. Or maybe not. I probably wouldn't go ask James out. (I know, he has a girlfriend) Or Liam.

* * *

><p>"Hi," I said shyly, as I slid across into the seat opposite from Liam. "Already onto your work; such a Ravenclaw," I teased him.<p>

He rolled his eyes, but grinned nonetheless. Even though his smile wasn't a killer lady smile, it sort of lit the room up. "I figured that this is not our first date. For that, I will take you to Hogsmeade," he said boldly, waiting for my reaction.

"Okay," I just said, then ducking my head into my bag as I brought my books out. He returned to writing his essay, but every few minutes, he would look up and our gazes would lock, causing us both to blush. Okay, I lie. More like me blushing and him with a small smirk.

"So," he said when we finally put down our quills, "You never told me about your family. Got any siblings, any protective brothers I should know about?" he teased.

"Well yes, I've got an older brother who's super protective and like always checks up on me. In fact he might visit Hogwarts sometimes soon," I joked, but I must have been an amazing actress, because he gulped slightly and looked at me with wide eyes. "I'm kidding Liam!"

He relaxed, then laughed, sending me a mock glare. "No, but seriously, Lena, I want to know more about you." I found that sweet. Make a note to tell Rose this.

"Well, I haven't got any siblings, so you can relax. Have got quite a few cousins though, some French, some English like Emily. I grew up with Emily and spent a lot of time with her, but I've mainly lived in France. Dad's English, Mum was French," I swallowed, and put up a small smile. I had only told Rose, Scorp and Al this so far, "Only got my dad now though, my mum passed away a while ago."

Liam said nothing for a while, but just took my hand in his, and squeezed it. He looked at me with sad eyes, and said sincerely, "I'm sorry. But thanks for telling me."

I smiled slightly, but changed the subject, seeing as I didn't really want to talk about it. Talking about it with Rose and the guys had been slightly better, I guess, since so many of their parents' loved ones had died.

Someone suddenly sat down in the seat on my other side – it was James. He took one look at mine and Liam's intertwined fingers and raised his eyebrows, looking directly at me. I didn't meet his gaze, feeling as if he was judging me or something.

"Sanders," he said coolly, now looking at my date. Wait, more like my to-be date. Liam nodded his head in response, the kind of ridiculous guy half- nod of acknowledgement. "Potter." They seemed to be glaring at each other, so I tried to break the awkwardness.

"What are you doing here James?" I asked him shortly.

He now faced me, and said gruffly, "Rose sent me to come and get you. All the Wotters are there already." Oh yeah! I had forgotten that Rose told me to the common room. I had spent so long with Liam, her plan had slipped my mind.

"Well, I guess I have to go, Liam. I'll see you later?" I asked him hopefully. He just kissed me on the cheek, and gave me a dazzling smile as I left. I'm pretty sure James was glowering at him though.

We were walking and I noticed James was slightly tense.

"Look, is something wrong? Did I do something to piss you off in practice? 'Cause you don't have to take that out on Liam, you know. He hasn't done anything to you!"

He stopped walking and turned on me, an irritated look on his face. "Why do you have to make this about Liam?"

Huh? This boy confuses me.

"Is this some sort of protective thing that you're doing? Because if it is, it's alright, I don't need it. Liam's perfectly nice, and he hasn't tried anything on me, so you can lay off."

I know that all I was doing was simply angering him more, but I let the words tumble out of my mouth. It felt good. He had been kind of ignoring me for the past two weeks, so I decided to give him a piece of mind. Except I didn't really like the dark look he was giving me right now.

He seemed to struggle to find his words, before saying, "He's on the Ravenclaw Quidditch team. That's like betrayal."

I gaped at him; this boy wasn't serious, was he?

"On the Ravenclaw Quidditch team? Are you nuts? What does that have to do with anything? Look, you can tell me if you think Liam's not a good guy, alright, but don't make up excuses as to why I shouldn't date him. Not that I'd listen to you now anyways."

I stalked off towards the common room, and after a while, heard his footsteps behind me. We didn't talk for the rest of the way, and neither did I want to. Honestly, he was being a jerk for no reason. Tu es completement débile, as I would say in France, but he wouldn't understand me. Obviously. And I still thought he was incredibly hot.

As we walked into the common room, Lily joked, "What, did your cat die or something? Why do you two look so miserable?" I saw out of the corner of my eye, James put a forced smile on his face, and I followed likewise. Rose sent me a questioning look, as if she knew something had happened, but called for us to sit down.

"Okay, what does everyone want to do?" she asked.

"How about a game of truth or dare?" Lauren suggested, and most people agreed.

Lucy and Hugo left, but surprisingly Dominique stayed behind. Rose conjured up a bottle and made everyone drink a little Veritaserum before spinning it. It landed on Fred.

"I choose dare, my dear cousin. Bring it on," Fred waves his hands about dramatically. Rose gave him a sly look and said, "I dare you to…propose to Lindsay Nichols tomorrow at breakfast, on the table with songs and roses and all that."

Fred groaned. "Lindsay Nichols, really? That girl is a crazy bitch. Not to mention she'll be at the Slytherin table with all her horrible friends. Fine, I'll do it."

He proceeded to spin the bottle and oh joy, it landed on me. I looked around nervously and Rose seemed to be mouthing 'Truth' at me, so that's what I picked. Lily's eyes lit up and she whispered in his ear. Uh oh. I could tell this wasn't going to be a very good question.

"So Lena, as per Lily's request, which boy in Hogwarts has caught your eye," he winked at me, and I could see everyone looking at me curiously.

I wished now that I didn't have a stupid truth potion on me, otherwise I could have lied. Rose was looking at me apologetically as if this was all her fault. I couldn't tell everyone it was James. First, he was sitting right there, looking at me too. Secondly, his girlfriend, my _cousin_, was here, and all hell would break loose if I said his name.

"What a stupid question to ask. It's Liam of course! Can't you see the way they look at each other?" Rose's voice rang out, and thankfully they all bought out. I let out a breath I didn't even know I was holding as my hand tentatively reached for the bottle and spun it. It landed on Lily, and the game continued.

When it was Lily's turn, it landed on Al. She smiled mischievously and said, "I dare you to kiss Lena. And yes, on the lips, you idiot."

I froze. Really? I mean, I know half the people here were related, but there was always Ari, Lauren, Scorpius and Emily. Okay, well not Emily obviously. And I doubt Al was much into guys. Ari, who was sitting a little away from me, seemed to tense up, and she didn't look as Al leaned forward towards me.

"Sorry," he whispered, "Gotta do this", and then proceeded to give me a small kiss. We didn't feel much, and it just proved everything I had been telling everyone about me and Al being just friends.

Lily groaned, and muttered something along the lines of, "They call _that_ a kiss?" but I ignored her. Al was looking at Ari, who was not meeting his gaze, and tried to look as disinterested in the whole thing as possible. I finally sneaked a glance at James, and I've got to say, he didn't' look too happy. He was scrutinizing Al and I, and I didn't like it. It got even worse when he turned around to Emily, and started whispering things in her ear, and kissing her.

I heard Rose vaguely mention something along the lines of "I'm tired. I think some of us want to go to bed." Ari got up with Rose and me, and asked us if she could sleep in our dorms tonight. As we were leaving, I saw Al try to grab out for her arm, but she shook him off with a glare, and walked up with us.

"Ari," I whispered to her. "You know that kiss meant nothing, right? It was just a dare, and I and Al are just friends. Besides, I've got Liam."

She suddenly turned on me, and screamed, "I didn't even say anything. I don't care about your kiss! Why did you even have to bring him up? The world doesn't have to revolve around Albus Potter!" She stalked off into the bathroom, leaving both me and Rose with shocked looks on faces.

* * *

><p>Oooh Ari got mad! How did you like that chapter? There was a bit of LiamLena cuteness and he's really growing on me! Also, a few of you seem to think James is being a bit of a jerk, but just remember he's been with Emily for quite a while. Lena is a new addition into his life.

Did you like the introduction of Victoire into this chapter? Personally, she's one of my favourite Wotters (well I love them all!) and she's not always painted in the best light. Also, I decided James being a bit of an idiot seemed a little funny, hehe. Btw, Tu es completement débile means you are being a complete moron or something along the lines of that. I love learning French :')

The main thing though, how was the game of truth or dare? Please leave a review of what you think, and any suggestions you have for coming chapters! This may actually be my last chapter for a while; I'm not abandoning this story, no way! I just have exams, so might be a bit busy for a few weeks.

-Vanillaberries


	8. The Stars Just Blink For Us

The eighth chapter, and also my last one for the next month or so? So enjoy!

* * *

><p>When Ari came out, she didn't say a word to us, and fell right asleep on a mattress she had conjured up. Rose gave me a worried look but slipped into her bed silently and I sighed, tired after the whole day.<p>

The next morning at breakfast was awkward, to say the least. I was still slightly mad at James (come on, he was being an idiot!), Ari was just generally being silent and Al was glaring at his sister.

Of course, Fred had to complete his dare. He approached this pretty (but the very giggly, fake kind) girl at the Slytherin table and started to sing to her. He conjured up roses and dramatically offered them to her. The girl actually looked as if she was going to become a puddle any second, the way she was looking at him. When he was done, she literally jumped on him, squealing.

He turned to us, his mouth wide in horror, as he clutched onto her weakly. Everyone, including the glarers (haha, like the name?) were laughing loudly, some of us with tears in our eyes.

"Fred, why don't you return to your own table," Professor Longbottom suggested, but even a smile was tugging at his lips. James clapped him on the back when he returned, and did this whole man kind of thing. Whatever. I didn't care.

Owls were starting to fly in, and one dropped off a letter for me. Of course, with my luck, it landed half in my bowl of cereal. I grimaced and shook off the milk, causing Roxy to give me a look (don't piss off Roxy!) and shook a think piece of parchment out. It was written in English, and I recognized the familiar handwriting.

_Dearest Lena, _

_I'm sorry, I haven't had time to write to you. Work has been extremely busy the past few weeks but I know you will have managed well. How are you enjoying Hogwarts? I suppose the food there is quite different but you'll get used to it. I hope Emily has helped you find your way around: she truly is a very good cousin. She did tell Aunt Claire that you've made quite a few friends, especially with the Potters and Weasleys – that's good to know. I will be visiting your French grandparents in Christmas; however, most of my holidays will be spent in travelling. You wouldn't mind spending the break with your grandparents, would you? Elodie said that she and Orville are looking forward to having you. _

_Take Care, Dad_

Well that was a nice letter, wasn't it He could have just cut to the chase and said he was shipping me off to my grandparents. Don't get me wrong. I love Grandmere and Grandpere, but my dad never spent Christmas with me anymore. Instead, I would just wake up on the 25th and find a perfectly wrapped package from him.

It's not as if he was always like this. Before my mum was gone, he doted on me, would spoil me. After her death, he seemed to shut down; I know he still loved me, but there were times when I wished he showed it more. That wouldn't hurt once in a while, you know.

"Lena, you coming?" Lily called out, as she grabbed our Quidditch gear. I nodded, and stuffed the letter into my bag, putting all thoughts of my dad to the back of my mind.

"Hey, look, I wanted to thank you for keeping my secret. I thought you might have told Rose or even Al and Scorp, but you haven't so thanks," Lily whispered as we made our way to the pitch.

"I meant it when I said you secret's safe with me," I said sincerely. Sure I loved finding out a juicy piece of gossip, but I always kept secrets.

"I know, it's just hard. I haven't even told Lauren, and it feels awful to lie to her. And the problem is, it wasn't just that once," she confessed. Okay what? "No, I promise I didn't like to you at the party Lena! That was the first time. But Aiden and I are spending more time together and even though I realize we wouldn't be together in a million years, he's sweet and funny."

"You like him," I said simply, rolling my eyes the slightest.

"What? No, of course not! I just…okay fine, I feel _something _for him, alright?" she huffed as I linked my arm through hers, and grinned.

"Oi Rosseau, if you're done gossiping, get a broom and start working on those exercises," James shouted out to me. Lily gave me a sympathetic look as she went off to find Aiden. I grabbed a broom, and swiftly made my way into the air, shooting the Quaffle through the hoops.

I soon realized that James was in a very bad mood today. "Rosseau, at least put some effort when you aim!" he screamed for the tenth time. Some of the team had stopped temporarily to watch us, but he quickly set them off to work.

When practice finally ended, I was putting some of the stuff back into my locker when James entered the changing room. "Think you can try more next time, Frenchie?" he chastised harshly. The way he said 'Frenchie' made my stomach tug in hurt, but I brushed it off.

"You're a dick, you know that?" I pointed a finger at him, stepping a little closer. His eyebrows rose.

"Best comeback you could come up with?"

"Please, I haven't even started."

"Do go on, it's very entertaining." He crossed his arms with a smirk.

"Forget it, you're not even worth it." I turned round to leave when he said darkly, "And what? Sanders is?"

What was his thing with Liam? Okay, he was in an opposing team but that was no reason to hate the guy.

"I don't need to defend myself or Liam to you. It's up to you to realize you're being stupid for nothing."

"You're right, I'm sorry." What? I looked at him, my eyes narrowed, but I stopped when I saw the resigned look on his face. He suddenly looked tired and I so badly wanted to push the hair out of his face, and hug him. But I didn't. Instead, I just asked, "Why? Why are you sorry?"

"What you do is your business. Not mine. Yours. I should obey that. And to be honest, Sanders isn't that bad. I know he's quite a good guy, actually," he gave me a smile. I grinned and then hugged him; he wrapped his strong arms around my back, and I felt the warm, fuzzy feeling in my stomach again as the butterflies decided to reappear.

I had to lean on my toes slightly to reach him, because he is so tall, and as I came down, I stumbled slightly on my feet. He quickly put an arm around my waist to steady me and I balanced myself with my hands on his chest.

Let me just say this: James Potter has muscles. Lots of muscles.

Trying not to sigh contently, I flushed a deep red and disentangled myself from him. Why is it that I always seem to fumble when he's around? He must be thinking I'm like the biggest klutz.

"You got to be anywhere?" I shook my head, "Well, then what do you say to a little quality James time?"

I laughed and followed him, as we made our way to the Astronomy tower; He walked over to the edge and calmly sat down, beckoning for me.

"Are you crazy?" I managed to get out, "You could fall off!" James rolled his eyes and tugged on my arm, forcing me to sit beside him. I looked down and gulped; we were high, much higher than I thought. "How do you like this? We're so high up."

"Look up, Lena, not down," he coaxed, and I did just that. The sky was brimming with colours of purple, pink and orange as the sunset was taking over. It was spectacular. I drew in a sharp breath, and simply watched in amazement.

"Cool, isn't it?" his voice broke through my thoughts. "Teddy brought me here back when he was in Hogwarts, and was asking Vic to go out with him. Merlin, he was so nervous. Thought that if she said no, it would be the end of the world. I laughed at him then, but now he's marrying the girl!"

I laughed, and then asked him about this Teddy. "Well, you see, he's my dad's godson, but really he's just like an older brother to us. When I was younger, I always said that I wanted to be just like him. He's an auror, with my dad. Not to forget that he's got blue hair because he's a metamorphagus."

I am not even kidding, this family never fails to surprise me. "What are you going to tell me next?" I laughed weakly. "That your cousin's a seer?"

He laughed, his eyes crinkling slightly as he grinned. "Na, everyone looks up to Teddy. When he and Victoire left, I was the oldest along with Freddie and Dom. But Freddie hates responsibility and Dom acts as if she couldn't care less. So it's up to me to make sure no one gets hurt and everyone stays out of trouble."

I raised my eyebrows and teased him, "Trouble? Are you sure you're the right person to talk about controlling that?"

He winked at me in return, "Oh I've still got a lot to show you. Maybe another time. So…you really like Sanders?" he asked me, but from his slightly stiff voice, I could tell he didn't really want to talk about it.

"Well, I don't know him very well, but I guess so. He's certainly charming, and he's not an arrogant jerk, so that helps."

"What, like me?" James asked quietly, his voice surprisingly soft. His hazel eyes looked into my own blue ones with a sincere gaze and I couldn't tear my eyes away from him.

"No, not like you. You said it yourself. It's in your nature to look out for people and make sure they're not getting themselves stuck in something. Sometimes, yes, it does seem to make you an idiot. But, hey, what do I know? You'd be much better asking someone like Emily or Fred."

He squeezed my hand suddenly, making it feel warm, and I blushed deeply. "Thanks, I try not to come off too strong, but I can't help it, you know? And you're wrong. You do know me quite well. We're friends, Lena, right?" he asked sweetly.

I nodded, my eyes still locked with his. He seemed to lean in a little bit, but I must have been dreaming because he got up quickly afterwards, and suggest we go to dinner. When we reached the Great Hall, he sat down next to Emily as I took my place among Rose and Ari. The latter was ranting on about something.

"What do I do, Rose? I mean I haven't been on a date to Hogsmeade since like, Al! God, why does your stupid cousin have to ruin everything? He's everywhere; he even pops up in my dreams. And now he's ruined me for other guys. I mean, come on, I'm nervous for a date with Eric Johnson. Last year, I would have been like, pfft, Eric Johnson, whatever. Now, I'm freaking out!" she exclaimed dramatically, now turning to me, "What do you think, Lena?"

I was surprised she was even talking to me. She had been completely silent this morning and seemed so mad yesterday.

"Um, well, he obviously likes you so just be yourself. And try not to run into Al, maybe?" I suggested, knowing fully that Al would probably try to seek her and her date out.

"Yeh, yeh, that's probably what I should do," she mumbled distractedly, and turned to glare at Al as he sat down next to her. "What do you want, Potter?"

"Ready for your big date with Johnson?" he taunted, "The poor guy's probably wetting himself after you asked him out. Maybe it's good. You two suit each other."

"For your information, _Eric_ is a really nice guy and we got on well together at the party before _you _interrupted. And our date is going to be great, just you see. I'm sure Eric's got it all planned out. Much better than you at least," she smirked at him, and his eyes darkened angrily as he glared at her.

"We had a great first date. You even said so," he said defensively, but Ari waved him off.

"Well, I wasn't going to tell you it was terrible, was I?" she replied; Al looked stunned for a moment before stabbing his food hard and concentrating on his plate. Ari looked pleased that she had finally outwitted him.

"Hey Lena," I turned around to face Liam, who had his hands in his pockets, and was grinning sheepishly. All my friends' eyes were on him as he said, "I was wondering if you'd like to go to Hogsmeade with me this weekend?"

A date. He was asking me out on a date. I mean, Rose had been telling me he would soon, and he had indicated, but it was different when he actually did ask me, Everyone was looking at me now, waiting for my answer.

Did I like him? Sure he was pretty much all I could hope for in a guy, but it was not as if I waited to be alone with him. But as Lily would say, it's only a date. What harm could it do?

"Sure I'd love to," I flashed him a smile, and he relaxed, then returned to the Ravenclaw table. Emily started gushing over how happy she was for me: "Ooh, Lena, this is so exciting! I'll help you get ready, alright?" and continued her girly squeals. Although Rose and I rolled our eyes at her, I admit it did make me feel nice to know that my cousin was still there for me. Which made me feel even guiltier about the whole James situation.

Speaking of James, he wasn't really responding to Emily as she kept on talking about Liam and I, but when I sent him a questioning look, he just shook his head and smiled. Okay, who is he fooling? Even an idiot could see that was a forced smile. I really hope he would get to know Liam well, like Al and Scorp had, because it would make things so much easier. I also knew that if it was him asking me out, I wouldn't think twice about saying yes…I hate my life.

* * *

><p>I honestly didn't think I'd manage this chapter in time. It took me about two days to write this but it seems like ages.<p>

I hope that in this chapter, Lena's home life is more exposed, and I will be building on that throughout the story. Before you start hating her dad, it is slightly complicated. Also, added a lot of James/Lena in there because I felt as if James' character hasn't really been built much. I have been getting quite mixed reviews, some hoping for Al/Lena so you never know, but I find Al/Ari pretty cute, as do some of my reviewers! What do you think?

Thanks, Vanillaberries


	9. You and I'll be safe and sound

Quite a short chapter but I just had to get this up!

* * *

><p>I thought that getting ready for the party had been a task, but I had clearly underestimated the girls. They had woken me up at 5 in the morning to get ready when we left for Hogsmeade at 8. Even then, Rose was complaining 3 hours was not enough. Stupid girl, interrupting my sleep.<p>

Ari made me sit down, and worked on me, despite my protests. I made her limit everything, and she eventually agreed for me to wear tights and my favourite purple coat on top of a simple dress. I didn't want to freeze in the cold, thank you very much.

Not everyone had a date. Lily had rejected every offer she got – which shocked everybody (but me) – and Rose planned to spend today with her. Al, probably in his anger and jealousy, had asked some stupid, giggly Hufflepuff in our year, which threw Ari off the slightest. Seriously, those two need an extra pair of eyes.

"There, you're done. Happy? You hardly let me do anything," she grumbled, applying some make-up to her own face. She herself was dressed similarly to me, but she had managed to pull it off effortlessly without any help. I knew Eric, her date, would probably have a fit when he saw her looking like that.

We had all planned to meet outside at the gate, where our dates would be waiting for us. I was definitely nervous; Rose had told me about Hogsmeade and not to worry, but I was not sure what he would do. Would he introduce me to his friends or take me somewhere romantic? I hoped I wouldn't run into Emily and James, because guaranteed that would be slightly awkward (for me at least) and I didn't want to particularly see them be all couple-y.

I had tried to hint at Scorpius to ask Rose out, but the boy is in denial and as oblivious as she is. He ended up getting asked by a fifth year Gryffindor and accepted it. Let's just say Rose wasn't the happiest person that day.

When we finally reached the gates, Al, Scorp, Liam and Eric were waiting together. Al was not so subtly giving Eric dirty looks but his expression became slightly blank, slightly wondrous as we approached them. I gave him a little smack on the head as he gaped at Ari.

I glanced at Liam now, who had gone for wearing jeans and a casual shirt – I must admit that it looked good on him. "Hi Liam," I said shyly and returned the favour, complimenting me on looking 'beautiful'. Pfft, he was just being polite.

"Where are we going first? Anywhere special?" I asked him, finally getting a hold of my red face, and teasing. He winked at me, and led me through the gates, saying goodbye to my friends.

"You like chocolate?" he asked me, as we approached a small village, and it reminded me strongly of what James had said to me before we made our way to that chocolate cellar. Okay, now I had to stop thinking of James.

"Who isn't?" I joked and he laughed, taking me through a shop door. My mouth dropped as we entered - it looked exactly like the cellar James had taken me too! I couldn't believe he took me on a secret passageway out of school. I started smiling, thinking of our little trip, before Liam asked what I was smiling for. "Nothing," I replied, shaking my head.

I chose a few treats and Liam offered to buy them, but I insisted as it was my first time here. Unfortunately, Ari walked in with Eric, and by the look on her face, she didn't seem to be enjoying herself very much.

"Oh my Merlin, Lena, you've got to help me! I cannot stay for a second longer on this date. Eric is annoying and obnoxious and when he's not talking about himself, he's drooling over me. Please rescue me!" she whispered, grabbing my elbow desperately.

"I can't, I'm having a good time with Liam," she smirked slightly at this, "And besides, you can manage him, can't you? It's only been a little while. It can't be as bad as you make it out to be."

"Oh trust me, you can't have gone on a date worse than this! Heck I'd even go with Potter now just to get rid of this guy. That's how desperate I am. So I'm begging, please do something." She gave me puppy dog eyes, knowing I'd give in.

And then just as I was running through ideas in my mind, Al walked through the door with his date. Otherwise, I may have said that it was getting a bit crowded but I suddenly had a genius idea. (I know, I'm brilliant, don't hesitate to applaud)

"Hey Al, come here for a second?" I beckoned over to him, and Ari shot me a look, "Rose is in a bit of an emergency back at Hogwarts, so can you and Ari go see what's wrong with her?"

Al looked confused. "No, she isn't. I just saw Rosie out on the street with-" he started to say something but Ari cut him off with "Come on, Potter, let's go!", whilst grabbing his arm and then dragging him out the door. Their dates suddenly seemed to realize they weren't there after a few seconds, and looked around frantically as I giggled like a mad person.

* * *

><p><strong>*Ari POV*<strong>

As soon as we exited the shop, I ran, still holding onto him, whilst a laugh threatened to come out of my mouth. Finally, when we were far away from the village and amidst some trees, Al turned to me.

"Do you mind explaining to me what's going on? Because I know Rose is not really having an emergency, is she?" he asked, his green eyes piercing into mine. Merlin, I could get lost in those eyes. No, Ari, focus. This is Al Potter; he broke your heart, remember?

But I knew I had to tell him the truth. And I also knew he wouldn't be too happy.

"Look, it wasn't Rose, it was me who was in an emergency," his eyes flashed in concern at this, "I needed help, being saved from…from my date," I finished off reluctantly.

I thought he would laugh at me or make a sarcastic joke but his eyes darkened in fury as he came one step closer to me and look at me, his jaw tense.

"So you thought you could use me for your personal benefits? Seems a little ironic, don't you think?" he muttered dangerously, his lip curled up in disgust. A wave of guilt first hit me as I winced at his words, but a fire suddenly lit up within me and there was nothing I wanted to do more that slap his face.

"You do not get to say that to me, Al." I gritted out, literally burning him with my words. It made no eyes; he still stared at me in defiance. "How dare you compare my actions to yours? Yours are far worse, and don't you say that they weren't!"

He ruffled his hair frustratedly and let out a groan. After a few seconds, he turned back to me swiftly and held my chin up so I was looking at him directly in the eye.

"Will you ever be able to forgive me, Arianna? Or will you just continue hating me for what I did to you? Because I will you a thousand times over, I regret it! You weren't the only one to get hurt. We're never to be safe, Ari. So are you brave enough or aren't you?" he whispered softly near my ear, sending shivers down my back as his hands now clutched slightly onto my waist.

A single touch of his caused burns through my clothes and I almost melted into his embrace right there. It was so inviting, so comfortable, so familiar…no, I couldn't do this. What I had with him was in the past, he was no longer part of my life – not in the same way at least. I closed my eyes, trembling all over, and was surprised to find a treacherous tear escaping.

A sob broke through as I stepped back in realization and screamed at him, "You didn't just hurt me, Al! You broke my heart! Literally smashed it into pieces. Facing you again after that was one of the hardest things I had to do. But I've recovered. I don't need you anymore, Al." My voice sounded bitter and as I heard myself, it sounded as if someone else was speaking.

"Please, Ari, just listen to me-"

"NO!" my voice broke, now on the verge of tears, "You fucking betted on me! A bet, Al! And you actually have the courage to come and ask me for forgiveness? I'm done, Al, I'm done. I can't, I just…please, just go away." My voice trailed off, as I rested against a tree, my head drooping down as the tears fell down my cheeks.

He didn't say a word. Instead, he came close to me, forced my chin upwards, and wrenched my mouth to his. My hands instantly found their way around his neck, as I pressed myself closer to him. One of his warm hands was slowly tracing circles on my hip, as the other cupped my cheek. All my thoughts were consumed by this amazing kiss, as he parted himself away from me, and I groaned slightly in frustration, before he attacked my neck with his lips. Wih my hands playing at the nape of his hair, I moaned softly and I could feel him smirking against my neck.

This feeling, this feeling of both fire and ice swirling inside me was killing me. I do not know how I stayed away from this boy for so long, when he could make me feel like this.

I could have pushed him off. Heck, I probably should have. But right now, the way he was making me weak in my knees, and Merlin, what he was doing with his hands. It was hungry and desperate, but soft and soothing at the same time.

This was Al Potter doing all these things to me. Al Potter. My ex-boyfriend. The guy I cried over for weeks. Reality dosed on me like a cold, ice bucket thrown down my back. I quickly pulled away from him, but his hands stayed firmly on me.

"Al…we can't do this. We just can't. It would never work. Whatever this was, it won't happen again," I tried to reassure both him and myself, but the words sounded shaky as they came out. Al looked up in defiance, his unwavering gaze on me.

"Bullshit. You know that's not true. As much as you hate to admit it, Ari, we're right. Just give us another chance," he said calmly. I didn't know how he was doing it; I was practically shaking right now and he looked as if he had just stepped out of a magazine cover.

"I'm scared, Al," I admitted weakly, "I'm scared that you'll hurt me again, or whatever sort of twisted relationship we have remaining." Al nodded slowly, trying to understand, before he asked me boldly, "So take a risk. I am. If you want, we'll go slow. Learn to trust me again. If you want me to back off, I will though."

Did I want him to stop fighting for us? No, most certainly not. After I had overcome my grief and all that, Rose had begged me to take Al back – even Lily tried to reason with me, and that's saying something. But going slow? I'm not sure Al and I could even do that – our relationship was all consuming: we were either fully in it or not. But it was better that spending days without him, right?

"Slow. I like the sound of that," I gave him a small smile and laced my fingers through his. As I did, he looked up delightedly and gave me the biggest grin I hadn't seen in a long time. Merlin, this boy was going to be the death of me.

"You won't regret this, Ari," he murmured, as his lips brushed min lightly. I certainly hope not.

* * *

><p>So, a change in POV…did anyone see that coming? I hope you don't mind that I slightly sidetracked to the whole AriAl plot but some of you seem to like it and I wanted o develop their story further. What do you guys think of them?

Though I promise it's back to Lena next chapter. Chapter 10 won't be until a few days, or maybe even a few weeks but I hope it's worth the wait.

I've had some lovely reviews, some so detailed I was surprised people took the time to write that!

And I just had to mention, did you like the chapter name? TRIBUTE TO THE HUNGER GAMES (which is fantastic too) and of course Peeta and Katniss.

Sorry this was quite a short chapter but I really couldn't picture another ending to it so I just left it there. Promise next chapter will be longer though.

And haven't had anyone notice this yet, but anyone recognize two or three gossip girl quotes I've used so far? Review if you can please!

-Vanillaberries


	10. Putme back together now stitch by stitch

Can't believe I've already reached the 10th chapter! I think it's just been over a month already. This will be my last chapter for a month at least, enjoy!

* * *

><p>The rest of my Hogsmeade trip had passed by really well; turns out Liam did introduce me to his friends and one of them was Seth Davies, the guy that Rose said Emily had dated. Although they all seemed nice people, I still felt uncomfortable, sitting around a table with them.<p>

"And then the keeper from Harpies made this brilliant save! You should have seen it," Seth was describing a quidditch game, before he grinned slyly at me, "You're on the Gryffindor quidditch team, right? Any little tips you could give us when we play you? I mean, come on, it's Potter – he's always got good tactics." Another round of laughs.

I suddenly felt sick; strangely enough, I wanted to be back in my dormitory, with Rose, Lily, Ari and Lauren. Was this guy honestly trying to ask me to tell him, a stranger up until 5 minutes ago, the tactics of a team I had worked for weeks now? Seriously, that guy needs a brain.

"Don't think that would be the best idea, would it?" my voice came out a little colder than I had intended, but Seth didn't seem to mind and continued laughing. Liam did, though. He frowned and looked at me, as if to ask what was wrong. I didn't meet his gaze but he eventually looked away.

I was glad when I saw Rose and Lily enter The Three Broomsticks, and I told Liam and his friends I'd see them in a while.

"Hey," I sat down on the seat beside them, "How has your day been going? Do anything interesting?"

Lily shrugged and said in a bored voice, "Well it was going fine until Rosie here saw Scorp with this date and flipped out. She's been sulking ever since."

Rose tried to protest but Lily simply continued, "At least Lauren seems to be having a good time. I saw her and her date adorably holding hands as they walked around. Saw James and Emily too. No offence, Lena, but your cousin really loves to giggle. I'm so glad that you're a little more like me."

I grinned and replied back to her, "Oh no. Not too alike, I hope. Kidding! Anyways, I am here because Liam is talking with this friends and I don't really have any interest in doing that so…"

"So you came to us." Rose said flatly. Something seemed to be seriously off with her. "Glad to know we're just the seconds." I gaped at her; Rose had never snapped at me or used something against me. She was the nice one.

"Rose, stop being such a bitch and lighten up. So Scorpius Malfoy went on a date with someone else. You never seemed to care before. So why now?" I had to hand it to Lily. She was good. And she certainly knew how to worm the truth out/

"Okay fine, I'm jealous, alright? Don't make such a big deal out of it! And Lena, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said that. You're on a date and you should be enjoying it." Now that's more like the Rose I know. "So how has your date been? Has he kissed you yet? Aww, was it really romantic?"

My cheeks were probably turning pink rapidly. "Well he took me to Honeydukes first," I started off, "Ari was there and really wanted to get out of her date, so I forced Al to go with her. Merlin knows what happened with them. Then we just went around a bit; Liam has been really sweet and stuff. I met his friends though – you mentioned one of them. Seth Davies? He said something about our quidditch team but apart from that, it was alright."

Lily and Rose exchanged glances, before Lily stuttered out, "You set up Ari and Al like that? Merlin, you're one sneaky genius. You have no idea how much I tried to get them to talk to each other last year. 5 galleons they're together by the end of today."

Rose snorted. "You're on," she said confidently, "But that's not what I was going to say. You remember I told you Davies is Emily's ex-boyfriend? Well, when she broke up with him for James, he became quite bitter. Add that to the fact that they're both opposing quidditch teams, and you do get quite a rivalry. So comments like what you heard are normal."

It seemed unfair to me that Seth picked James out like that. The person he should have really been mad at was Emily. She was the one who dumped him to date his rival. I realized I should probably ask Emily about all of this soon. Not that I had spent a lot of time with her since I got here. Well, you can't blame me. She was consumed in James, most of the time.

"Lena," we all turned to see Liam standing awkwardly, looking at us, "You want to come back up with me or your friends?"

Although the date hadn't been perfect, it certainly was very nice. I gave him an easy smile, getting up and giving Rose and Lily a wave. As we walked out of The Three Broomsticks, towards Hogwarts, there was a silence between us.

"I hope you had a good time today," he suddenly said in a sincere tone as we walked towards the Gryffindor tower. "I mean I did."

"Yeah, it was a lot of fun," my truthful reply came and he now seemed more relaxed. His fingers loosely felt for mine, and his warm hand against my cool one made my insides slightly flip inside out.

"Look, I hope you didn't mind what Seth said to you. He likes to joke around, and well, Potter is a rival captain so poking fun is his normal thing. And I know you're in his team so…" he finished off awkwardly, looking down, before glancing back up at me when I laughed.

"I get what you mean. And Seth's alright, I did actually like your friends. Also I'm not just on James' team, I'm his friend," I said confidently, "Besides isn't this whole rival thing been taken too seriously?"

Liam didn't seem to look too happy right now. "Seth has his reason for not liking Potter, and Quidditch is just one of them. And to be honest, I don't like him much either. Sorry, he might be your friend, but he walks around like there's no one better than himself."

Okay, now you're threading on thin ice. Sure James could be an arrogant jerk sometimes, but he was a really good guy and nothing Liam said could change my mind about that.

"Well sure…but I know him. He just comes across like that sometimes," I shrugged, trying to show Liam I didn't really care much. It worked.

"Well, then, let's stop talking about Potter. Here's your portrait hole. I really did have a good time today, Lena. Maybe we could do this another time?" he said, before leaning in cautiously and giving me a small brush across the lips. It was warm and made my lips feel tingly. All of a sudden, I felt quite giddy and giggled loudly as Liam left me.

It took a moment to process before I entered the common room, and I saw someone sitting by the fire. He looked up at me quickly; it was James.

"Hey, how was your date?" he asked quietly, even though there was no one around. I was still sporting a big grin, as I practically screamed, "Great!" and sat down next to him.

"Where's Emily?" I asked, actually curious to know how she had left his side.

"She felt kinda ill, so she went up to bed. So…I saw you with Sanders and his friends in The Three Broomsticks. Did you like them?" his voice broke my thoughts, and I shrugged nonchalantly.

"They were alright. Seth Davies was a bit of a jerk, but they were nice to me. But we didn't spend much time there. Liam showed me every shop in Hogsemade – it was gorgeous! And you never told me the chocolate shop we went to was outside Hogwarts."

He chuckled and said in a teasing tone, "It's more fun when you're breaking the rules. Besides, I've got a lot more to show you, maybe sometime when you're not busy with lover boy."

I rolled my eyes, and replied back "Liam is not my boyfriend. Yet. And it's not like I'll be spending every minute with him. I've got priorities."

"Well then, we must make me one. Have you seen Al, by the way? His date came and found me, sounding all frantic."

"Yep. I sent him off to be with Ari," I said proudly, pretty confident that my genius plan had worked.

"What a great idea. You do realize they might kill each other right? Al will piss her off, she'll slap him, he'll try to kiss her, she'll slap him again…what, why are you looking at me like that? It happened a million times when they were dating!"

Aah, finally someone admitted it! "They did date! So what happened exactly?"

"It's complicated but Al made this stupid bet with a girl that he could date Ari for more than two months and get her to fall in love with him. The two months didn't really happen, falling in love kinda did. Ari found out, and she was furious. They had a huge row, as Al said, and both of them seemed cut up afterwards. I always told Al just to kiss her and get her back for once," he rolled his eyes, before tapping his chin in thought (looking adorable!), "Actually that already happened last year after Gryffindor won the cup. They were snogging for ages. God, it was disgusting."

I laughed as he crinkled his nose in disgust. I teased him, "Don't you think Al feels the same way when he sees you and Emily like that?"

He grinned suddenly, "Actually that's pretty fun. It's a good way to torture him. And make out with my girlfriend."

I was surprised to find that my stomach twisted over and I didn't feel like smiling anymore. "Are you happy with my cousin, James?" I asked him, my voice barely audible. I didn't mean for it to come out but it just did.

Something flickered across his face – was it confusion or anger? – but he quickly covered it up with a joke. "Of course I am! What is this? Some sort of protective interrogation? I thought only the male relatives did this!"

Of course he did. What was I thinking? Who wouldn't like her – she was beautiful, confident, sweet and generous; all the things that he would want.

"Just checking. 6 years of bonding worth to catch up on and I figured I'd at least make sure she was happy with the right guy," then blushed, after seeing him looking intently at me, "I mean, the right guy for her. You're the right guy for her." Even saying it, the words sounded strange coming out of my mouth. I knew I certainly didn't mean them.

"Am I?" he muttered, but I still heard it. Could have I heard right? I pretended as if he hadn't said anything and smiled back at him, letting him know I was going upstairs.

He just nodded, not giving me a second glance, and once again stared back into the deep logs of fire. My heart sank. Why was I constantly raising hope over someone who didn't notice me? I had Liam, and we had a perfect day together. I didn't want more.

* * *

><p>I didn't see Ari until the next day, in our Transfiguration lesson, but when I did, the sight took me by surprise. She was grinning, her eyes bright and sparkling, with her gaze locked with Al, who was sitting beside her with a similar expression. And no so subtlely on the table, were their entwined hands.<p>

I think I'm actually envisioning myself doing a happy dance right now – this is so weird. I have been a matchmaker for this beautiful couple. Well, they already dated but whatever. Maybe I should go into a match-making business. Hmm, who knows?

"Aaah!" I screamed, practically running towards them in glee, and enveloped them in a huge Lena hug. Ari whimpered, looking very panicked, and AL wasn't very far off. "I can't believe it! My plan worked! I am such a genius, I deserve a medal. Do you know how cute you look together? Like, your kids would be super duper cute! Oh, ma chérie, vous avez trouvé votre Bonheur, c'est génial!"

They both looked terrified now, and Al finally got out, "Lena, please stop talking in French. We don't understand a word you're saying and it's scaring us."

Ari nodded and piped up, "And it's not a big thing. We're taking this really slow, right?" Al squeezed her hand, and I grumbled, finally seating myself next to Ari. I guess now that they weren't fighting, I didn't have to sit between them.

When Al went to get our tea sets to transfigure from the Professor, I turned to Ari quickly and said in an irritated voice, "So what's really going on? How did this all happen? Are you actually going slow?"

"Who, calm down on the questions. Al and I are just…we're having fun. Not getting too serious yet. He suggested it, surprisingly. And I couldn't resist him so…"

"Aww, that's adorable! Do you want o go slow? I know you like him a lot and it doesn't even need to be said for him. So why are you so hesitant?"

"Well, we screwed it up last time, didn't we? We still have to talk about that, so I'll tell you later. But please don't tell Rose and Lily yet, I'll do it when I'm ready-"

"Talking about me?" Al gave us a cocky grin as he slipped in his seat and a blush crept up Ari's neck. He whispered something to her and she giggled. Giggled. Ari doesn't giggle. I need to return to normal world, where Ari glares and makes sarcastic comments. Maybe I should go to Rose.

"Okay I swear, if you don't stop doing that right now, I will give you a very nice hex," I glared at Al and Ari, who were leaning close together and being all cutesy and couply.

"What happened?" Al smirked, "Is Liam not satisfying your needs?"

"Ugh, shut up, Liam has been perfect. Our date couldn't have gone any better."

"Well, tell that guy I've got my eye on him. He's cool but he is, after all in Ravenclaw."

"Oh my merlin, why do all the guys make such a big deal out of this?"

"I'm just saying, be careful. He's friends with Davies, so there's every reason not to trust him!"

"What? Okay, so his friend's a bit of an ass, doesn't mean you judge him."

"Lena, trust me, I know Hogwarts guys. I know how they think. Most of them only have one thing in mind."

"And how would you know?" Ari finally joined the conversation, raising her eyebrows at Al. He faltered, trying to get out an excuse as I tried my best not to laugh.

Merlin, Transfiguration lessons were fun.

When Ari finally did tell Rose, Lily and Lauren, we were in the dormitory and needless to say, there were several squeals.

"I knew it! Ha! Rose, you owe me five galleons," Rose reluctantly handed over the coins to Lily, who continued, "What did he say to you? Was it romantic? Wait, I don't really want to know. This is my brother."

Ari smiled sweetly, her eyes lighting up. "It was perfect, he was so gentle and caring. We've decided to take it slow, because last time was too intense. And yes, Rose, before you start, we've talked about last year. It's the reason why we're just having fun right now. So I'll tell you when it gets serious."

"Look, Al may be my cousin but going slow? You two were practically in love last year. Isn't that gonna be hard?" Rose asked doubtfully.

"Yes. Obviously. You don't think whenever I seen him that I just want to tell him I want a full commitment? But it's better than not having him." Another round of Aww's went around.

"Did you hear about Lindsay Nichols? Apparently she stalked down Fred and his date in Hogsmeade and started throwing candy at them when he tried to walk away!" Lauren piped up, and we gasped.

Lily laughed loudly. "Oh my god, trust Fred to get into this sort of mess! Oh, by the way Ari, I saw Jenna Hannigan all over Seth Davies today. It was pretty disturbing."

Jenna Hannigan? Where had I heard that name before?

"Please. I don't need to hear about that bitch. She ruined sixth year for me," Ari put on her best mean girl face, "Oh Ari, don't you think you should get that dress altered – maybe bigger? Oh Ari, Al and I had such a great night together! We just sucked each other's faces off. Oh Ari, please stop listening to my stupid whiny voice!"

We all started cracking up at the end; I realized that Jenna Hannigan was Al's ex from last year, who Ari had mentioned. (in a conversation I wasn't supposed to be listening to) Not to mention the fact that she hated her.

"Hey, Vic sent out invitations for the wedding today! It was all pretty fast don't you think? It's happening near the end of Christmas break, so don't make any plans!" Rose said excitedly, "Oh and Lena, you're invited too!"

What? I hardly knew Victoire! And I hadn't even met their whole family yet. Besides I was spending the break with Grandmère and Grandpère.

"Um, I'm staying with my grandparents for the holidays. So I'm not sure I can come."

Rose protested, "But you have to! Teddy and Vic's wedding is going to be amazing, like a fairytale! And Vic said she really wants you to come. Here see the letter. 'I hope you friend Lena will be able to make it – she seemed like an absolutely lovely girl.' And it's her wedding so…"

"Ugh, fine, I'll ask my dad. Happy?" I grumbled.

Rose literally jumped on her bed. "Yes! Aaah, we're going to a wedding!"

* * *

><p>How did you like that chapter? Bit of a filler maybe and you got introduced to Seth Davies!<p>

Also, some more Lena/James scenes as promised, and there will be more coming. I hoped you also like Al/Ari – hope they're not too cute or something ahah!

Please review! -Vanillaberries


	11. Come on skinny love, just last the year

Our first match was coming up in a few days and it was against Hufflepuff. James, of course, was pushing us hard and every moment we weren't in class or eating, we were at the Quidditch pitch.

"James, can we please go now?" Lily was whining. We all were exhausted and it was past time for dinner. The rest of the team nodded and James gritted his teeth.

"Just a few more minutes, come on!" he tried to reason but Ari, who had been patiently waiting in the stands for an hour, came stomping onto the pitch.

"Look, you can make them practice another time, James Potter, just let them go now! I need Al," she called out, dragging Al by his collar towards the changing rooms as he stumbled after her. James had no choice but to agree, and we all let out a sigh of relief whilst going to our lockers.

"You've done a good job you know?" I tried to comfort James, who was mulling over some tactics. "You've got us whipped into shape, we've got you as the best chaser in Hogwarts, and not to forget no one can catch a snitch faster than Al."

"But we've got to win this. You know, last year, sure I was captain and we won, but this is my last year. And there are scouts coming to these matches, so I really need to be in form. I know we have a strong team, I just…forget that sometimes, you know?" he gave a small smile, "Aren't you going to dinner? You must be really hungry."

"Yeah, starving! Coming to join me?" I grinned at him and he nodded, shoving his gear in his locker.

"Emily's probably waiting for me. Let's go."

We managed to make it in time for dinner. Lily and Aiden were already there, but stopped talking as we approached. I shot a look at her, but she just shrugged helplessly. James went and joined Emily at the Hufflepuff table and I watched in envy, as he gave her a kiss, and wrapped an arm around her shoulders.

It was surprising how these knotted twists and twinges of jealousy seemed to be growing and now, I tried to avoid looking at them. Aiden's foot suddenly knocked against mine and I glared at him in my frustration, before realizing that he and Lily were playing footsie under the table. Uggh, everyone was off being all romantic and couply. Thank merlin Al and Ari weren't around.

"My boy's been looking for you, Rosseau," a slick voice interrupted my train of thought. "Potter's got you working your ass off on the field? Hope it pays off."

It was Seth, and I didn't like the mocking voice he had on. I glanced at James, who was staring at us, his body tense and rigid. He didn't look too happy that Seth was standing next to me, being all smug and smarmy. Well, lucky for him, I was ready to show Seth a piece of my mind.

"Well, it definitely will. You should be afraid when you come play against us," I sad confidently, but Seth just laughed at me, which angered me even further. What did Emily ever see in this guy? "And what did Liam want to say to me?"

"Not sure, I'm just the messenger. The very trustworthy messenger," he winked at me, and I grimaced, turning to look at James, but he was no longer in his previous seat.

"Davies, you wanted something from my teammate?" James' cold voice rang out, and I let out a sigh of relief as he came near my side. Lily and Aiden were now staring at us.

"Oh no, don't worry Potter, no need to get all protective. Liam was searching for her," Seth smirked but James retorted back, "Well you tell Sanders to come find her himself. I'm sure he can do that without your help."

Oooh, burn. Seth's smirk dropped abruptly but I could practically see his eyes gleaming, as he inched forward and looked James in the eye, before saying, "Why so possessive Potter? It's not like I'm going to steal her, unlike you."

In a flash, James grabbed onto Seth's shirt and was about to hex him, before Aiden screamed, "Expelliarmus!" and deftly caught his best friend's wand. James glared at Aiden, who shrugged, but still let go of Seth and stormed out of the Great Hall. I quickly ran after him and found him angrily leaning against one of the walls of the corridor. Carefully approaching him, I said, "Are you alright? You know Seth's an ass – don't let it get to you."

"That's not the point, Lena!" he suddenly lashed out, "First of all, why are you even associating with people like him? And how could he even say something like I'm going to steal you? I've got a girlfriend and we're just friends! And I didn't even steal Emily from him – she dumped him."

I couldn't tell him the main reason why she dumped him, could I?

"Yeah, I know, I heard," I sighed, and a small ounce of pain tugged at my heart. There went all my dreams of something romantic with James. He was probably in love with Emily. Why would he even bother with me, the shadowy cousin?

"Sorry for taking it out on you, I didn't mean it. It's just that he makes me so angry and you're the first person I saw so…" he trailed off, not just looking al cute and stressed as he gazed at me sincerely. I gave him a warm smile in return and he said, "You know Lena, you're a good friend. To put up with all our stupid Hogwarts drama. And you listen, you never get mad!"

He suddenly scooped me up for a big bear hug and that tingling sensation came over my body once more. There were butterflies literally fluttering in my stomach, and I relished the feel of his warm breath against my shoulder until we heard a voice ring out quite loudly.

"Oh I see you two are getting along," Emily flashed me a not-so-sweet smile, "My cousin and my boyfriend. That's great!" Even though James may have fallen for it, I certainly hadn't. Her smile was too frozen and plastered and she kept on glancing at us to see if we were silently communicating or something.

It was then that I saw Liam there beside her. He was staring at James with a weird look on his face, then smiled tentatively at me.

"Hey, hope I wasn't interrupting something important there," I shook my head, "I just really wanted to find you. Seth kind of said he annoyed you and Potter, so I'm sorry if he said anything hurtful. I'm working on that with him."

I gave him a small, hesitant smile even though I wasn't really okay with Seth. But I just nodded and didn't relay any of that to Liam.

"Seth isn't exactly my piece of cake, no," I said, "but as long as he's not around on dates or taunting me, I'm fine with it." Liam's face lifted into a bright smile and we stood there for a few seconds, just foolishly grinning at each other.

After a few moments, I noticed James and Emily looking at us – James looked slightly guarded (what's new) but Emily looked slightly relieved? Probably glad I wasn't hugging her boyfriend.

The girl I used to know was a lot stronger, a lot less dependent on guys; true, I had not seen her in nearly a year, but this possessive = looking person didn't seem at all like my cousin. She was almost someone I could no longer recognize.

James excused himself to go take a shower and Liam decided he better go get ready for classes. Which left me with Emily. Yay.

"So Liam seems like a nice guy," she turned to me, with the same fake smile, "You must really like him."

"Well…I guess. I mean, yeah, he's great, but there's honestly no rush," I admitted but I guess that wasn't the answer she hoping for, because her lip curled up slightly.

"Why? Have someone else in mind?" Oh, you wanna play dirty, dear cousin? We'll play dirty/

"No one in particular. Just keeping my options open."

"Well I hope none of those 'options' have girlfriends."

"Maybe, maybe not." God it is so easy to tease her. I started to walk away before she hissed out, "Well look elsewhere. James is not an option!"

Okay she brought it up, not me. "Who said I was talking about James?"

"Well, who else could it be? You spend so much time together, between quidditch and stuff." Okay, I had to give her credit for that. My cousin is a smart cookie.

"Look, I am not interested in James, alright? He's yours!"

"Yeah, well, that hasn't stopped you before has it?"

What? What the hell did she mean from that? When had I ever taken something or someone from her?

"What do you mean? I have done nothing to you!"

"No, you've taken my friends away from you. Rose, she was practically my best friend. Now, all of a sudden, she wants you. Lily, Lauren and Ari? They used to come talk to me and ask for help. Now it seems that you deal with it instead."

"I didn't mean to take them away from you! I _haven't_ taken them away from you! You grew apart. Rose is not your best friend anymore because you dropped her the second you got with James!"

"Oh, now you act like you've been here all these years! You have no idea what my relationship with James is like. And I didn't drop Rose or anyone! She just couldn't understand why he was suddenly spending so much time with me."

Was she serious? The amount of time they spent with each other, I'm surprised they had any time left for anyone else.

"Look, Emily, I don't want to fight. Clearly what's in your past is nothing to do with me. Rose, Lily, Ari, Lauren…they were just nice to me and became the first friends I made here. I have no intention of 'stealing' anything from you," I said, "And that includes James. I'm sorry if you thing that talking, practicing on a team, and a friendly hug is being flirty or interested. To me, they're not. Besides, I do like Liam, so you don't need to go all jealous- protective kickass on me. And it may be because I'm your cousin, but that was so not terrifying."

With that, I walked away briskly, feeling like a total badass. Maybe I shouldn't have said some of those things. Maybe it was wrong to tease her in the first place but I didn't care anymore.

All I did was hug him. _Hug him_. And she got possessive over that. I wonder how she dealt with all his fan girls. Ha, that would be a sight to see.

I found Rose in the library (no surprise there) and sighed loudly as I dropped into the seat next to her. She lifted her head with an amused look on her face and said, "What is it, Lena? Got some more boy drama?" Oi! I do not have boy drama!

"First, I have no boy drama! Second, I think I just made my life a living hell."

"Why, what did you do? Didn't hex a Slytherin, did you?"

"No, I'm not that stupid. Or bored."

"Well then what is it?"

"I got into a fight with Emily over how she thought I was after James."

Rose didn't reply; her face was a mixture of shock, amusement and pity. Clearly, even she knew I had practically declared war on myself. She put her quill down slowly and started laughing. Like not a cute, giggly laugh, but one of those crazy, stomach-hurting hyena-type ones.

"Oi Rose, what is so funny?" I shook her arm lightly, now a bit afraid of the psycho woman in front of me.

"You! It's amazing. Most new people slowly settle in, take their time to adjust, especially since you're from France. But you just walked in here and have totally owned the place. You've got a circle of friends, got a guy who likes you, and have even managed to get into a fight with one of the most popular girls in school – your cousin. How many people could do that?"

Now that she put it like that, it did make me think. I had never dreamed of becoming so involved in Hogwarts life; a part of me had always hoped this would just last a year and I'd be back in France, where I belonged. What I didn't expect was to actually fit in, but in the process, distance myself from Emily.

"You're lucky, you know. You may complain, but atleast Liam's interested in you." Rose continued, her eyes now downcast, "Scorpius doesn't even give me a second look. I'm just a friend to him, his best mate's cousin. Nothing more. Do you know how hard it is to see him around school with these stupid girls?|

"Same way I feel about James and Emily." We both sighed simultaneously, taking everything in before I suggested, "Want to go get ice cream? Might do us some good."

She nodded and we slowly got up and packed our things. walking to the kitchens. However, things didn't exactly go so great when we walked by a broom closet, and we heard some noise from within. Rose, being the dutiful prefect, wanted to check it out but I told her it was probably just a couple snogging. She wanted to check anyway, so she blasted the door open and out fell two people.

So I was right. Except those two people were Lily and Aiden. And Rose's face was slowly matching her hair.

"Are you INSANE? What are you TWO doing together? She is two years younger than you, and you, Wood, you…are a manwhore! That's what you are! And you're taking advantage of your best friend's sister. What an idiot! And Lily, don't get me started on you. You are so lucky Al is sucking face with Ari and James has gone Quidditich Nazi because if I was them, you'd be confined right now. How did this even happen? When did it happen?"

"Well Rosie, it went a bit like this….we suddenly found ourselves attracted to each other and then we just started kissing, again and again." Aiden is such an idiot, did I ever tell you that?

"Aiden. shut up. Do you want to piss Rose off some more?" Oops. My mouth seemed to be working on its own. Rose noticed I wasn't exactly freaking out like her and rounded on me.

"Why are you just standing there? Did you know about this? Oh my merlin, you did, didn't you? Why didn't you ever tell me? What sort of friend does that? My baby cousin and Hogwarts' biggest playboy, seriously?|

Let me tell you one thing: I never want to be found guilty by Rose Weasley again. She was actually scaring me right now, with her wide blue eyes darting angrily between us three, and one finger pointing directly at me. Seriously, Emily should take a lesson from her in how to scare a person. She'd really learn a thing or two.

Even Aiden looked slightly frightened now; I could only imagine what it would be like for him when James and Al found out.

"And just because I'm not hexing you Aiden does not mean I'm okay with this. I'm giving you a warning; my family won't go so easy on you. James is the most protective of them all. He will cut you off as a best friend, I'm telling you. But if you want to take that risk, fine, go ahead," she said simply, before leaving to walk away.

"You won't tell them, would you?" Lily cried out, her voice etched with worry and panic.

Rose gave her a slightly disgusted look and shook her head before walking away. I didn't follow her immediately. Lily slumped against the wall in dismay whilst Aiden rubber her back soothingly. It was sort of strange to see him all sweet like this.

I didn't' know what to say to them. It wasn't as if I felt differently to Rose on the subject. But she was Lily's cousin. So I shrugged helplessly and followed the angry redhead who had stomped off just a few minutes ago.

I found her at the kitchens, furiously scooping out the ice-cream we were supposed to get in the first place.

"Seriously, Lena, I mean how could you not tell me? Lily is my baby cousin and we all know she's a big fan of boys, but surely you could have told me that she was having a thing with Aiden. Aiden Wood! Most other guys, I don't mind. I mean I love him and all, but how am I supposed to hide this? Especially when I don't support her decision. Aiden will break her heart, you know that. He will cheat on her or something equally stupid."

Okay, now she was just being inconsiderate. And I really wanted to show her a piece of my mind.

"Rose, stop it! You don't even fully understand their situation and you're just making fucking assumptions about them. Whether you like it or not, Aiden cares for Lily. Maybe you're just jealous that whilst Aiden has done something about his feelings, you haven't gotten anywhere with Scorpius."

I knew the moment I said it, I regretted it. Wow, I really seemed to have a big mouth today, didn't I? First with Emily, and now with Rose. I didn't think she could believe what I had said at first and stared at me in shock, before glaring at me and stomping out again. So I don't think I was going to be talking to her anytime soon.

I was about to leave the kitchens when Al and Ari stumbled in, giggling and arms wrapped around each other. Well, it's nice to know some people were happy. Uggh, he even gave her a kiss on the nose. How disgustingly cute. I slipped out, without interrupting their little love fest, and walked moodily back to the tower. Then I realized that I was sharing a room with a friend who wasn't talking to me, her cousin who she was mad at and said cousin's best friend. Great.

* * *

><p><strong>Okay I'm guessing some of you probably have some complaints about this story. I was away on holiday and couldnt' update, but hope this was satisfying enough! To be honest, I'm sort of annoyed at some of the characters as well. Up until now, I<strong>** quite liked everyone but I** **guess I've become like the rest of you *sigh*. Yes, Lily is being a bit whiny and needs to face up to what she's doing, Rose is being a bit of a drama queen, Emily's being a bit of a bitch and even Lena's got a mean streak. I guess this is all part of making a long story; your character develops more flaws along with the plotline. I hope you guys are enjoying this story so far, I** **think that in maybe 4 chapters, I'll be about halfway I hope. But let's see. Thanks for being amazing readers and please review! - Vanillaberries**


End file.
